Bulletin
Quebec still needs its decrees

DECREES ARE MORE RELEVANT THAN EVER

They provide a safety net for those left behind by the labor market.
They ensure fair competition between companies.
They bring stability to entire sectors where jobs are often precarious.
They embody a vision of work rooted in dignity and justice.

Abolishing the decrees today would set Québec back 90 years.

An official petition to preserve the legislative framework for collective agreement decrees has been tabled in the National Assembly.
This petition is our tool to show that workers, unions and even employers do not want the government to dismantle this vital protection.

SIGN THE PETITION

Share it in your workplaces and networks.
The more of us who speak up, the harder it will be for the government to ignore our message.

A UNIQUE LEGAL MECHANISM

In 1934, in the midst of an economic crisis, Québec passed a law that would become a cornerstone of labor rights: the Collective Agreement Decrees Act.

Its principle was simple yet powerful: when a collective agreement is signed in a precarious sector, where competition drives down wages and working conditions, the government can extend its protections to all employers in that sector, whether they are unionized or not.

This is what we call a collective agreement decree.

Today, there are 14 decrees in force across Québec. They cover approximately 90,000 workers in sectors such as public building maintenance, private security, road signage, and petroleum equipment installation. These jobs are often atypical, highly feminized, and marked by subcontracting and intense competition.

Far from being outdated, decrees still serve a vital purpose: they protect those for whom the labor market offers no guarantee of fairness or equity. Precisely because universal protections remain insufficient, decrees are more relevant than ever.

PROTECTION FOR ALL QUEBECERS

Decrees are a bulwark against poverty, wage theft, undeclared work, and cutthroat competition.

They guarantee minimum wages above legal standards, regulate working hours, enforce compliance through joint committees, and in some cases, provide access to pension plans and group insurance.

Without these decrees, many of these protections would vanish.

And without the self-financed joint committees to monitor enforcement, that responsibility would fall to the CNESST, an agency already overburdened and affected by budget cuts. It would be incapable of adequately replacing this oversight.

AND THE EFFECTS ARE WELL KNOWN

For an average worker covered by the housekeeping sector’s collective agreement, the abolition of the decree would represent a significant setback. Dropping from $21.57 an hour to a wage near the current minimum would mean losing over $215 per week for a full-time worker. Such a drop would seriously threaten the financial stability of thousands of families already strained by inflation and rising housing costs.

In sectors where decrees have been abolished, wages have plummeted, job insecurity has skyrocketed, and the race to the bottom has only accelerated. On average, workers have faced wage losses between 25% and 35%.

This is not a hypothesis. It is a fact.

At a time when the government is cutting CNESST funding, speaking of “modernizing” standards, and considering the elimination of decrees, it is more critical than ever to reaffirm their value and relevance.