Quebec unions protest plan to limit debate

Government move a bid to ’dismantle labour relations,’
QFL leader charges

By Rheal Seguin

QUEBEC — More than 3,000 angry union members braved
blowing snow to demonstrate on the steps of Quebec’s
National Assembly yesterday, as Premier Jean Charest
imposed closure on major government bills that they say
will hurt labour.

The leaders of six labour organizations promised that
they will take to the streets again in the new year to
confront what they called the anti-labour agenda of Mr.
Charest’s Liberals.

"Just look around you: Thousands drove in this snowstorm
to protest here today. Their anger will not subside,"
said Henri Masse, president of the Quebec Federation of
Labour. "Never in 40 years have I seen such filth by a
government attempting to dismantle labour relations in
this way."

The unions held the rally to protest against the
government’s decision to limit debate on eight bills and
accused the Liberals of muzzling serious debate.

The government motion meant that the members of the
National Assembly were required to sit throughout the
night. They will adopt all the bills later today.

As more and more protesters arrived yesterday evening,
police in full riot gear were called out. Some
protesters broke through barriers and rushed up the
steps leading to the Assembly.

Swirling snow — More than 30 centimetres had fallen
during the day — didn’t cool the fervour of union
members. For the first time since the protest movement
began last month, all the major labour organizations
formed a united front, determined to send a signal to
the government that yesterday’s protest was only a taste
of what could be expected in coming months.

Mr. Masse intervened to call back a few overzealous
demonstrators. QFL security personnel pushed back the
crowd and imposed order, but the anger did not subside.

"There’s not a goddamn motion of closure big enough in
Quebec to gag the working class, the labour movement,"
he told the crowd.

Government House Leader Jacques Dupuis explained that
the government had a mandate to push through the agenda
on which it was elected and warned that nothing would
stop its resolve to adopt the bills this week.

"We have a clear program that we defended throughout the
election campaign," Mr. Dupuis said. ". . . I believe
people expect us to pursue that program."

The Opposition Parti Quebecois said that rarely has a
government invoked closure to ram so many important
bills through the legislature. The bills include:

Barring union accreditation in private nursing homes and
home daycare centres;

Changing the Labour Code to make it easier to
subcontract work that could eventually be transferred to
non-union workers;

Merging hospital bargaining units; Increasing daycare
rates to $7 from $5 a day and increasing subsidies to
more private daycare centres;

Allowing recently amalgamated cities to hold referendums
to break away from megacities;

Creating new regional development bodies, called
conferences of elected officials, that critics argue
will lead to patronage and influence-peddling.

"The Charest government is using the tyranny of its
majority and is turning its back on thousands of parents
. . . and on thousands of workers," PQ House Leader
Andre Boisclair said. "Mr. Charest lied to the
population last week when he said he was open to
dialogue. . . . He is sending the debate back into the
streets."

Union leaders warned that the deteriorating social
climate in Quebec could eventually lead to a general
strike.

"Nothing is excluded," said the president of the
Confederation des syndicats nationaux, Claudette
Carbonneau. "Mr. Charest has shown that the only people
he is willing to listen to are those from the business
community."

While the strike may be illegal, labour leaders say it
remains legitimate because government has chosen to
reject all calls for changes to its laws.

Tensions between government and labour mounted just as
the main public-sector unions tabled their salary
targets yesterday as part of negotiations now under way
for more than 450,000 government employees. They seek a
12.5-per-cent increase over three years.

The government called the goals unreasonable and is
digging in for a tough round of bargaining that labour
leaders say may quickly become part of the momentum
leading up to a general strike by both private and
public-sector workers.

(c) 2003 Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. All Rights
Reserved.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ArticleNews/TPStory/LAC/20031216/QUEBEC16//?query=strike

EARLIER STORY:

Toronto Globe and Mail Update with Canadian Press

December 11, 2003

Quebec Union Workers Take to the Streets

Province-wide union protests against Premier Jean
Charest’s social and economic policies have slowed
commuters, shut daycare centres and cancelled hospital
appointments in Quebec on Thursday.

Union members from both the private and public sectors
have joined together for a national day of disruption,
hoping to draw as many as a million workers to the
streets in mass demonstrations against what they see as
a government with an anti-labour political agenda.

Some Montreal Transit Commission garages remained closed
Thursday morning, forcing many people to walk to the
closest subway system or find other means of transport.

More than one-half of public day-care centres in the
province are closed ant the Centre Hospitalier de
l’Universite de Montreal cancelled 3,000 appointments,
including many surgeries. Essential services were
maintained in hospitals throughout the province.

In other regions of Quebec, picketers stopped traffic at
ports in Quebec City and Trois-Rivieres and blocked two
highways. Near Saguenay, tonnes of sand were dumped in
the middle of the main road into the city.

The worker’s anger is directed at government amendments
to the Labour Code that will make it easier for
companies and public entities to subcontract parts of
their operations. Labour leaders say the legislation
jeopardizes workers’ protection under current collective
agreements.

Other controversial legislation includes eliminating the
right to organize by employees working in home-daycare
centres, the merging of collective bargaining units in
hospitals and increases in daycare costs.

"Bill seven and eight literally de-unionize women who
are taking care of children at home, handicapped
children or daycare-aged children," Arthur Sanborn of
the Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN) told
CBC Newsworld on Thursday.

"Bill 31 opens wide to sub-contracting much more than in
any other Canadian province ... there are actually tens
of thousands of people in the public and private sector
who risk losing their jobs or who will be forced to
lower their income because of that law. It takes all
protection away when your company sells part of its
business to somebody else."

The Premier said Thursday that despite union resentment,
his government is doing exactly what the people of the
province elected it to do.

"We told people a long time ago exactly what we wanted
to do and we’re proceeding with this mandate for change,
which will have very direct benefits on the services
people get, the quality of the services and on the
strength of the Quebec economy," Mr. Charest said.

Union leaders disagree, saying Mr. Charest has in fact
broken campaign promises.

"Premier Charest never talked about de-unionizing
Quebec," Mr. Sanborn said. "He actually said he was
going to support the middle class, and now he’s going to
destroy it. Some 1.2-million people are unionized in
Quebec and that is the core of the middle class. … If he
demolished the setup of unionized workers that allows us
to have a decent standard of living, it is going to be
bad for everybody."

Mr. Charest met with Claudette Carbonneau, president of
the Confederation of National Trade Unions, for two
hours Wednesday to talk about union displeasure with the
government’s policies.

The two sides has agreed to meet again early next year.

Quebec has the highest level of unionization of the work
force of any jurisdiction in North America. At least
1,600 unions are expected to take part in Thursday’s
protests.

With reports from Rheal Seguin

(c) 2003 Bell Globemedia Interactive Inc. All Rights
Reserved.