Follow-up Regarding the 2017-2021 Collective Agreement Negotiations — Construction

CANASA takes part in information meetings held by the Association de la construction du Québec (ACQ), and as such, presents the key highlights associated with the 2017-2021 collective agreement negotiations.

Act 142:
As a reminder, this Act has put an end to the construction strike. It also sets the negotiation conditions as follows:

  1. No right to strike or stage a lock-out before 2021.
  2. Work conditions: As of April 30, 2017, conditions pertaining to the collective agreement in force apply. However, as of April 30, 2017, applicable salaries have increased by 1.8% since May 31, 2017 (Section 12, Act 142).
  3. Mediation with regard to the renewal of collective agreements will come to an end by October 30, 2017. If parties cannot reach an agreement, an arbitration period will follow.
    • The arbitrator or arbitration board is required to render a decision by April 30, 2018. The arbitration award binds the parties until April 30, 2021 and is not retroactive (Sections 28 and 29, Act 142).
    • If parties cannot reach a consensus on the form of arbitration, on the arbitrator, on the topics of discussions, or on any other issues, the Minister of Labour will reach a decision, as stated in Act 142.
  4. Act 142 gives the Minister the right to choose, among other things, the form of arbitration, the arbitrator, the arbitration board members, the topics of discussion, etc.
General Comments
The ACQ has indicated that negotiations have not really taken place since the beginning of negotiations. The Alliance syndicale (union alliance) refuses to negotiate as long as the ACQ continues to push forth management’s demands.  

The ACQ’s consultations have revealed that misinformation presents a major issue. The workforce gets a one-sided version of the facts and has a hard time finding information. To counter this, the ACQ invites all industry associations and employers to broadcast informative video briefs to their teams.
http://www.acq.org/nego.html (in French only)

For more information, please consult Act 142 (in French only)