Press release
COMMUN FRONT – It’s urgent to catch up

Montreal, November 30th, 2023 – “The data from the Institut de la statistique du Québec (ISQ) is unequivocal: the wage gap between public service workers and other salaried employees in Quebec must be closed. The CAQ government must offer to catch up, otherwise the labour shortage will get even worse,” declare Common Front spokespersons François Enault, 1st vice-president of the CSN, Éric Gingras, president of the CSQ, Magali Picard, president of the QFL, and Robert Comeau, president of the APTS.

In terms of total compensation (including benefits), the gap with other salaried employees in Quebec is 7.4%. The gap widens even further when it comes to salaries alone, where the gap is 16.6%. These figures, unveiled in the ISQ’s Rémunération des salariés – Etat et évolution comparés report, confirm the importance of catching up in the context of negotiations. “We want to maintain our purchasing power, but we also want to be enriched. We couldn’t be clearer: the survival of public services depends on it,” say the spokespersons, pointing out that the government lacks ambition as an employer.

“In the current climate, our networks need to be attractive. The aim of negotiations is to attract and retain staff. As we know that our people are leaving for other sectors with more advantageous conditions – at the municipal and federal levels, and in large unionized companies in particular – we expect the government to behave like an employer of choice and draw inspiration from the best.“

The Common Front is calling for a permanent indexation mechanism on the one hand, and a general catch-up enrichment on the other. Thus, for 2023, it is demanding $100 per week or CPI+2% (whichever is more advantageous), for 2024 CPI+3% and, finally, CPI+4% for 2025.

As usual, there are some notable discrepancies, particularly in categories with comparable conditions such as municipal administration (36%), public enterprises (19.6%), the university sector (17.9%) and the federal administration (17.2%).

Among skilled workers (carpenters, electricians, plumbers and others), the gap is still very wide at 35%.

Statistics to better understand what’s at stake in these negotiations

• Average salary for Common Front public sector employees: $43,916;
• Salary backlog: 16.6%;
• Total compensation backlog: 7.4%;
• Percentage of women represented by the Common Front: 78%.

To find out more about the negotiations: https://www.frontcommun.org/.

About the Common Front

Together, the CSN, CSQ, QFL and APTS represent more than 420,000 Quebec public sector workers in education, health and social services, and higher education.

Source: Common Front (CSN, CSQ, QFL, 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, QFL Cell: 514 893-7809 jlaverdiere@ftq.qc.ca

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

Translation : UES800