Press release
From strikes to dues: How the CAQ is tipping the balance against workers

Over the past year, François Legault’s government has taken a series of steps to tighten the noose around union action. After introducing the controversial Bill 101 in April and passing Bill 89 limiting the right to strike, a new front has opened: one of “transparency” and questioning union dues. Once again, the democratic balance is being upset, the scales are tipping in favor of employers, and our entire social safety net is under threat. 

We meet, we vote, we are accountable 

Democratic union life takes place in meeting rooms across the province, over lukewarm coffee and stacks of papers. This is a far cry from the caricatures presented by the CAQ. Members ask questions, request figures, and propose ideas. We often debate, we convince each other, and we always vote. That’s what union democracy looks like daily. 

So when the CAQ government insists on “putting in place” practices that unions have followed for years, it understandably raises eyebrows. 

Transparency, yes. Blanket suspicion, no. 

We know all about accountability! Financial statements presented at meetings. 
Budgets voted on by members. Audits, when appropriate (which, incidentally, cost much more than the CAQ claims). 

What is shocking is the blanket suspicion: the idea that, by default, unions are neither transparent nor democratic. 

And while we brandish the word “transparency,” we forget that employer associations are not subject to the same requirements. Double standards. This looks less like spring cleaning and more like a targeted narrowing of the space for union action. 

True transparency begins at home: let the government do its own checks, and workers will do theirs. 

The flawed idea of “à la carte” dues 

On paper, the idea of opting out of a sliver of dues “not related to the employment relationship” may seem reasonable. In reality, it turns into a costly maze: 

• Administrative mechanisms to be invented, operated, and verified. 
• Recurring costs taken out of members’ pockets. 
• Repeated recourse to the TAT to arbitrate what is “allowable” or not, in a gray area where each union has its priorities. 

The result: time and money diverted from the concrete defense of workers to paperwork and litigation. This does not strengthen democracy. It multiplies forms and squabbles. 

A question of philosophy… and society 

Where does “strictly related” to the employment relationship end?

Who draws the line? 

When a union defends parental leave, health and safety, access to housing, francization, the fight against racism… is it speaking “only” to its members, or to society as a whole? 

For decades, union gains have gone far beyond the immediate interests of their members. They have become collective achievements. Weakening this funding undermines a countervailing power that has built a social safety net that benefits everyone, whether they are unionized or not. 

A pattern is emerging 

• A bill that limits the leverage of strikes. 
• A reduction in government staff to handle requests and disputes. 
• An offensive on internal financing and governance. 

The pattern is clear: reduce the unions’ room for maneuver and weaken their role as a democratic counterweight. 

After the chaotic reforms in health care and public services, and resounding fiascos such as SAAQclic and Northvolt, it is difficult to believe that the CAQ will be able to manage such a complex issue without plunging once again into chaos. 

Our position is simple and firm: 

• Yes to transparency that comes from the members and serves the members. 
• No to interference that presumes bad faith and imposes a single model on diverse union realities. 
• Yes to social dialogue, but not for a reform that is costly, complicates everything, and weakens the voice of workers. 

“Our doors are already open. Our practices are voted on by our members, and our priorities come from them. That’s what union democracy is all about: collective decisions made by and for the members.” — Marie Deschênes, Acting President of UES 800 

Let’s not get distracted 

Members: Attend your meetings, ask questions, make suggestions. Union democracy is brought to life by you. 

Partners and employers: Let’s stay focused on concrete solutions in the workplace. Cooperation yields better results than confrontation. 

Government: Correct your course. Choose cooperation over interference. Recognize the democratic mechanisms that members have built and withdraw measures that unnecessarily weaken union solidarity.