Press release
Public sector negotiations – The Common Front will be on strike on November 21, 22 and 23

Montreal, November 6, 2023 – With 420,000 workers on strike across Quebec since midnight, the Common Front announced this morning that the next strike sequence will take place from November 21 to 23, unless an agreement is reached by then.

“We are announcing today the timing of the second-strike sequence, which will be held over three full days. Our message this morning is clear: our negotiating teams are fully available for the next two weeks. The goal is to reach a win-win settlement for workers and services to the public. No one wants another strike sequence, but we’ll be ready if we have to be,” said Common Front spokesmen François Enault, first vice-president of the CSN, Éric Gingras, president of the CSQ, Magali Picard, president of the FTQ, and Robert Comeau, president of the APTS.

“That said, it’s important to understand that this movement is a demonstration of the determination of our members, who voted 95% in favour of the strike and who are ready to go all the way, right up to an unlimited general strike, if the government doesn’t get the message,” the spokespersons were keen to point out.  

On October 29, the Treasury Board tabled an offer containing a derisory increase of just 1.3%. The wage offer, which rose from 9% over five years to 10.3% for the same period, would do nothing to solve the problems caused by the immense backwardness suffered by the 420,000 workers in the Common Front. On the contrary, it would impoverish them.

“After 100,000 people took to the streets in support of the Common Front on September 23, after a mandate for an unlimited general strike was adopted by 95% following an insulting deposit last Sunday, the government is now pushing us to strike. It’s reaping what it sowed, no less. Right now, we’ve cut sown our demands at all the sectoral tables. But one thing is certain: workers’ expectations are high. Letting our world become poorer is non-negotiable“, the spokespersons thundered. 

It should also be remembered that the government has chosen to give parliamentarians 30% enrichment and catch-up, to which will be added other annual increases, and that it has offered 21% over five years to police officers of the Sûreté du Québec, an offer that was refused. The salary agreement to be reached with the Common Front should receive the same level of consideration.

For more information on this negotiation: frontcommun.org

Contacts:

Noémi Desrochers, CSN	Cellulaire : 514 216-1825	noemi.desrochers@csn.qc.ca
Maude Messier, CSQ	Cellulaire : 514 213-0770	messier.maude@lacsq.org
Jean Laverdière, FTQ	Cellulaire : 514 893-7809	jlaverdiere@ftq.qc.ca
Maxime Clément, APTS	Cellulaire : 514 792-0481	mclement@aptsq.com