Quebec Unions Debate a Settlement
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- Published on Friday, 29 January 2016 06:30
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A Socialist Project e-bulletin .... No. 1215 .... January 29, 2016
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Quebec Unions Debate a Settlement
Ashley Smith
Quebec public-sector unions organized in the Common Front reached a tentative agreement with the government of Premier Philippe Couillard right before the holidays on December 17. The agreement followed an explosive fall filled with rotating regional public-sector strikes and anti-austerity protests that culminated in the largest general strike in Quebec's history, when more than 400,000 workers stayed off the job and shut down most government services on December 9.
The wave of militancy forced the Liberal Party's Philippe Couillard to back down from his most extreme demands for concessions in negotiations with the unions. Trumpeting the need for a zero deficit budget, he had offered only a 3 per cent wage increase over a five-year contract, while... demanding an increase in the retirement age to 62, along with a long list of givebacks in working conditions.