The court hearing regarding essential services to be maintained during two planned Hydro-Québec strikes did not ultimately take place, as the parties reached an agreement on these services just before the hearing was scheduled.
The parties discussed throughout the night until Friday morning, confirmed the two local branches involved of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which is affiliated with the FTQ.
The Administrative Labour Tribunal summoned Hydro-Québec on Friday morning, as well as representatives from two CUPE locals, one representing the 2700 technologists and the other representing the 6200 skilled trades employees.
The largest union at Hydro-Québec, that of the skilled workers, plans to launch the strike at midnight, in the night of Wednesday May 13 to Thursday May 14, for an unlimited duration.
These collective agreements expired on December 31, 2023. The parties have been negotiating for more than two years.
The technologists’ union also plans to launch its strike on May 14.
In both cases, it will be a refusal to work overtime.
Hydro-Québec management indicated that the agreement stipulates that “during outages or emergencies, employees will have to maintain essential services on an overtime basis.”
Even though the parties have agreed on the essential services to be maintained, the final decision rests with the Administrative Labour Tribunal. The Tribunal must, in all cases, decide whether the proposed list of essential services is sufficient to avoid harming public health or safety. Its decision is expected early next week.
For both the tradespeople’s union and the technologists’ union, the issue of using subcontractors is part of the dispute.
The technologists’ union is adding the employer’s demands for flexibility to the dispute.
Hydro-Québec did, however, reach an agreement with other unions, notably that of specialists and professionals, which has 5500 members, for whom subcontracting was also an issue.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
