Talks stall on third day of Quebec construction strike
By
Roger Jordan
27 May 2017
Talks between employers and unions representing around 175,000 striking construction workers in Quebec made little progress yesterday, increasing the likelihood that the provincial Liberal government of Philippe Couillard will introduce an “emergency” back-to-work bill on Monday.
Despite the best efforts of the Alliance Syndicale de la construction (Construction Union Alliance), whose spokesman Michel Trepanier admitted Wednesday that substantial concessions had been made in a bid to avert the strike, employer representatives described the first round of talks early Friday morning as a waste of time, according to La Presse.
The unions have indicated their readiness to capitulate to the employers’ demands to prevent the issuing of a back-to-work order. Trepanier said Friday he was confident of reaching a “negotiated agreement,” before adding, “If it takes the whole weekend, it will take the whole weekend.”
If a deal is reached, the unions plan to force workers to return to their jobs without informing them of its contents, let alone permitting them to vote on it. Should Couillard impose legislation, the unions will dutifully fall into line and order workers to return to work as they have done time and again in similar circumstances in recent years.
Although it has been obvious since the beginning of the negotiations that the employers were relying on the government’s support in pushing through their concession demand, the unions kept a radio silence about the threat of a savage strikebreaking law. Only after Couillard himself raised the issue last week did the unions condemn a back-to-work law, while signaling they will obey it.
On Thursday Couillard amplified his threat…