Reform of the union system | The FTQ demands the immediate withdrawal of the bill
A few days before the parliamentary commission on Bill No. 3, the Quebec Federation of Workers (FTQ) launched a call for mobilization against the government’s “authoritarian drift”.
“The bill must go to the shredder,” said the president of the FTQ, Magali Picard, in a press release on Sunday.
In this same press release, the FTQ accused the government of attacking the “very foundation of labor relations” in Quebec and the balance between the demands of workers and the power of employers.
What is Bill 3?
The Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, tabled Bill 3 on October 30, which aims to reform the union system. The objective of the bill would be to promote better transparency, strengthen governance and improve the democratic process.
The most controversial element of the bill is the arrival of a new concept, that of the optional contribution – in addition to the main union contribution –, which would be used to finance activities other than the defense of workers. Unions will also be required to allow a vote over a 24-hour period, particularly when the time comes to authorize a strike or the signing of a collective agreement. They will also be required to produce financial statements (which they already do) and these will be audited externally each year, at the unions’ expense.
Read the article “Unions on a war footing”
“Governments, regardless of their colors, have no business getting involved in the governance of union organizations. Unions belong to workers, not to frustrated politicians who reject social dialogue,” added general secretary Denis Bolduc.
Magali Picard called on her union members to mobilize against this “authoritarian drift” of the government and described the bill as “undemocratic”. She accused the government of looking for “scapegoats” to “justify [ses] failures” and now attack the unions, after attacking immigrants, doctors and the Muslim community.
The president of the CSQ, Éric Gingras, and the president of the CSN, Caroline Senneville, have already criticized the government for wanting to designate “a bad guy”, the unions, to distract from its political, social and economic record and thus try to climb back up in the polls.
With The Canadian Press and Hugo Pilon-Larose, The Press
