The good weather of summer is the time most construction is accomplished in Canada.
Right now however major construction sites across the entire province of Quebec has ground to a halt in a construction industry general strike involving tens of thousands of workers.
It’s estimated that every day the strike continues, costs the provincial economy about 45 million dollars.
In the industrial sector, work schedules and overtime are at the heart of the conflict.
Quoted in the CBC, Michel Trépanier, spokesperson for Alliance syndicale said, “We just have a minimum of stability in the construction industry and our workers want to keep it”. He added that workers wanted “to be able to have a balance in their life with their work obligation and their family obligation.”
In the residential construction sector, salaries are the stumbling block.
It is probable that the provincial government will table back to work legislation quickly to keep many major infrastructure projects going while negotiations continue.
The province’s largest trade union, the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec, (FTQ) warned the provincial Liberal government not to force workers back on the job.
The FTQ president Daniel Boyer said it was clear employers were not negotiating in good faith and hoping the province would enact back-to-work legislation.
Boyer said such a law would undermine the right to free negotiation.
Additional information- sources
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