Salary increase for Quebec nursery staff bypassed bargaining process: union

Quebec imposed a work condition that is part of the bargain and one that the unions deemed insufficient, the lawsuit argues.

Article content

A union representing daycare workers has gone to court to challenge the Legault government’s decision last month to give them a raise.

Article content

The Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance argues that by doing so, the government obstructed union activity, since the wage increases are part of the negotiation between two parties and not a unilateral decision.

Article 12 of Quebec Labor Code stipulates that no employer “shall seek in any way” to obstruct the activities of an employee association.

In its lawsuit, the union maintains that negotiations had been underway for months when Quebec decided to announce the increases, justifying the move by saying it was urgent that they be paid better. The union says the shortage of daycare workers had been apparent for months before the government’s announcement.

By deciding to partially increase workers’ salaries, the Finance Board and the provincial Family Ministry imposed a working condition that is part of the negotiation and a union had already found insufficient, the lawsuit argues.