Helen Saulnier 

Quebec has at last achieved an arrangement in principle with the union representing the 1,800 engineers utilized by the authorities.

Affiliation of specialist govenrment engineers (APIGQ) president Marc-André Martin verified the news on Tuesday, indicating the strike ended at midday.

The two ministers anxious, Sonia LeBel, at the Treasury Board, and François Bonnardel, at Transportation, ended up pleased with this consequence.

The 3rd strike that the APIGQ had started ended at midday on Tuesday.

Earlier, engineers walked off the occupation on April 22, a second time on June 1 and a third time on June 21.

Concerning each strike, the get-togethers resumed conversations with no reaching an arrangement.

This time, negotiations resumed at the finish of past 7 days and ongoing from noon on Monday until Monday night time, and the discussions were fruitful.

“It truly is a comprehensive agreement, anything which is normative and salary,” Martin stated.

He did not want to give far more facts considering that his members have not been educated of the content of the tentative agreement.

Customers will be requested to vote at a virtual conference on Thursday.

Compensation, in relation to the classification of these engineers, was at the heart of the dispute. Quebec wished to build a senior engineer classification, but the functions disagreed on how to outline it, beneath what parameters, and who would be qualified for it.

Negotiations have been painstaking.

On June 21, Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel observed that Quebec was building its 10th present to the engineers’ union.

“A excellent negotiation finishes when every single celebration feels it has dropped a huge piece,” he said.

Worth Regarded, QUEBEC Claims

“A great deal of work has been carried out by the two get-togethers in the very last couple of months to attain this arrangement in basic principle, and I want to thank them,” mentioned LeBel. “I would also like to emphasize the great importance of the work of government engineers who allow us to have out different infrastructure tasks for Quebecers.”

Bonnardel additional that he feels the settlement will be helpful to the engineers.

“It will enable them to capture up substantially and guarantee their competitiveness on the occupation market place,” he said. “Engineers engage in a essential purpose in the financial system and the sleek procedure of our design web sites and I would like to thank them for their work.”

The APIGQ represents 1,800 engineers used by the government, 1,200 of whom get the job done for the Ministry of Transportation. The rest are employed by the Ministry of the Surroundings and other ministries.

The strike has had a substantial effect on civil engineering and highway construction web-sites underneath the jurisdiction of the Quebec authorities given that federal government engineers are accountable for checking these web sites. Delays have been incurred, substantially to the chagrin of the development contractors included.

— This report by The Canadian Push was 1st posted in French on July 19, 2022.
