The Administrative Labour Tribunal has just ruled in favour of Hydro-Québec, after receiving an urgent request for intervention concerning pressure tactics that were deployed in several regions of Quebec on April 22 and 23.
The decision targets a local branch of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), the one for skilled workers, which is currently busy with strike preparations.
Related:
The Tribunal ruled these pressure tactics illegal and ordered the union members to cease using them. It also found that these tactics were likely to deprive the public of services to which it is entitled.
The Tribunal’s decision reports the use of Hydro-Québec vehicles and equipment for unauthorized purposes, the concerted refusal to work overtime, the refusal to use tablets used for work allocation, and the obstruction of access and passageways in Hydro-Québec buildings.
The Tribunal also reports statements from Hydro-Québec describing “actions amounting to mischief or vandalism” that caused slowdowns in activity: entrance doors locked with electrical cables, garbage bags left near the car of a site manager, a snowmobile belonging to Hydro-Québec suspended from a boom truck, among other things.
“The evidence reveals the implementation, on a provincial scale and over a very short period, of a series of coordinated actions aimed at disrupting Hydro-Québec’s operations: blocking access, deliberately slowing down interventions, concerted refusal to perform certain tasks, diverting or sabotaging equipment and disrupting workplaces,” summarizes administrative judge François Beaubien.
“It is not necessary to elaborate at great length in the face of so many actions committed in just two days by the employees who are members of the Union to conclude that these are concerted actions initiated, encouraged, if not tolerated by the latter, when on April 23, 2026, on its website, it emphasizes that everywhere “throughout the province, significant mobilizations took place yesterday by members of the 1500. They wanted to send a clear message to the employer,” adds the administrative judge.
The Court concludes: “It is clear that, during these two days, the concerted actions of the employees who are members of the Union deprived the public of services to which it is entitled or is likely to do so if they do not cease immediately.”
The Tribunal’s decision will be filed with the Superior Court, giving it the same effect as a judgment of that court. Therefore, anyone who violates this decision could be held in contempt of court.
Hydro-Québec management expressed regret over the use of such pressure tactics, which they described as “outdated.” They emphasized “the importance of respecting the rules governing pressure tactics.”
It also plans to take “the necessary measures to protect its facilities, its managers, its employees, and to ensure quality service to its customers.”
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
