The four major labour federations emerged satisfied on Wednesday evening from their first meeting with Premier Christine Fréchette.
They even compared Fréchette to her predecessor, François Legault, suggesting that the two politicians were like night and day.
This summit meeting, held at the premier’s office in Quebec City ahead of International Workers’ Day, lasted no less than 1 hour and 30 minutes.
Upon leaving, the union representatives were smiling. They reported having “spoken at length” during the meeting and praised Christine Fréchette’s willingness to “listen.”
“It’s a whole different world,” said CSN President Caroline Senneville. “It’s not the same tone. Much more willingness to listen. It sounds trivial, but taking the time to listen to the other person, (…) that’s no small thing.”
“At no point during today’s meeting did we sense a confrontational spirit,” she added.
The lengthy discussion reportedly served to address everyone’s “philosophy,” rather than to formulate very concrete demands.
“We explained how we could contribute to Quebec,” said CSD President Luc Vachon.
“The tone was cordial, professional, reasonable, and responsible,” said Olivier Carrière, secretary general of the FTQ.
“We weren’t greeted with a belligerent tone. We arrived with an outstretched hand, and then we had a discussion, a dialogue. Now, we’re waiting for action.”
The unions say they are waiting, for example, for “invitations to work together.”
“Over the past few months, we weren’t invited. They just threw bills in our faces, saying, ‘Here’s what’s going to happen,’” lamented Éric Gingras, president of the CSQ. “For over a year and a half now, it’s been nothing but confrontation. They said the unions aren’t capable of working, and then they don’t want to move forward. Now, they’re listening. It was cordial; it was interesting.”
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
