Press release
PRESS RELEASE – COMMON FRONT

Reaction of the Common Front to the ISQ report on the remuneration of employees in the Québec administration

The gap persists and catching up is necessary

Montreal, November 30, 2022. – Once again this year and at the dawn of negotiations in the public sector, the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ) has made a clear finding: the gap in overall compensation (including benefits) persists. As of April 1, 2022, the gap for public sector workers was -3.9% compared to other employees in Quebec.

“In terms of wages, year after year, the gap remains significant. It is -11.9% compared to all other employees in Quebec. After that, the government is surprised that, in the context of a labour shortage, we are having difficulty attracting and retaining personnel in our public sector, in education, in health and social services and in higher education. It is not for nothing that we are asking for an inflation indexation clause to protect the purchasing power of workers, as well as wage increases commensurate with the services rendered to the population,” declared union leaders Éric Gingras, president of the CSQ, Caroline Senneville, president of the CSN, Robert Comeau, president of the APTS, and Daniel Boyer, president of the QFL.

If we pay particular attention to the various data presented in the report, we notice some notable differences, including with unionized private companies, which offer a total compensation that is 9.3% higher than in the public sector. There are also significant differences with categories with comparable conditions, including municipal government (-34.6%), government business enterprises (-19.6%), the university sector (-15%) and the federal government (-11.6%).

Among trade workers (carpenters, electricians, plumbers and others), the gap is still very large, at 30.7%. It is not surprising that it is extremely difficult for health and social services institutions and the school and college networks to recruit this qualified workforce, which is essential for the maintenance of our facilities.

“Beyond the figures presented by the ISQ, it is the issues that undermine our public networks that must be addressed. And that means going through negotiation. The Legault government will have to take the measure of the salary offers that it must present to government employees at the end of December. These offers must allow for real enrichment. We need more than goodwill, great orientations, and a bunch of thanks. The status quo is not acceptable,” concluded the union leaders.

Statistics to better understand what is at stake in these negotiations

• Average salary of Common Front public sector employees: $43,916
• Salary backlog: -11.9
• Overall compensation backlog: -3.9%;
• Percentage of women represented by the Common Front: 78%.

To understand the negotiations: https://www.frontcommun.org/

About the Common Front

Together, the CSN, CSQ, FTQ and APTS represent more than 420,000 workers in Quebec’s public sectors, in education, health and social services and in higher education. The collective agreements will expire on March 31, 2023.

Source: Common Front (CSN, CSQ, FTQ, APTS)

Information

Noémi Desrochers, CSN Cell: 514 216-1825 noemi.desrochers@csn.qc.ca

Maude Messier, CSQ Cell : 514 213-0770 messier.maude@lacsq.org

Jean Laverdière, FTQ Cell : 514 893-7809 jlaverdiere@ftq.qc.ca

Maxime Clément, APTS Cell : 514 792-0481 mclement@aptsq.com