Press release
Repeal of the decrees: The minister knew. He lied.
24 November 2025
This morning at the National Assembly, Alexandre Leduc, labour critic for the second opposition group, unveiled a new internal document from the Ministry of Labour.
A document that confirms what we feared: Minister Jean Boulet is indeed preparing a proposal to repeal the Collective Agreement Decrees Act, despite the reassuring statements he made just last week.
The 800 was on site to defend the 25,000 people who rely on the two housekeeping decrees that cover public buildings. Marie Deschênes, interim president, took the floor to remind the government of what it seems to have forgotten: behind these decrees are real lives, real families, and a dignity worth protecting.
Here is her full statement:
“This morning, I am speaking on behalf of the 25,000 workers, unionized or not, who are protected by the decrees in the cleaning sector.
Without the decrees, their wages will drop from $21.52 to minimum wage within the next 5 to 8 years. And this is not a hypothetical scenario: it is what has happened every time a decree has been abolished.
People who have been doing this for more than 20 years will lose around $200 per week, in addition to their group RRSP.
In today’s economy, this will jeopardize the financial situation of thousands of workers. The Minister of Labour will plunge thousands of families into poverty.
We are talking about people who clean our schools, disinfect our hospitals, and clean our government offices.
People who were considered essential during the pandemic.
People who risked their health to protect ours.
And today, we are preparing to abandon them.We cannot let our government do this to them.
They take care of us. We must take care of them.We refuse to abandon these 25,000 workers to precariousness.”
— Marie Deschênes, Acting President, UES 800