December 15, 2023

In a caustic decision handed down yesterday, the Administrative Labour Tribunal (TAT) has put the government, health and social services Minister Christian Dubé and his negotiators in their place by finding them guilty of bad-faith bargaining and interference in union activities. The TAT (Tribunal administratif du travail) is imposing exemplary punitive damages of $315,000, or $45,000 for each union. 

The unions had filed complaints when the government used ministerial directives to unilaterally impose COVID measures that modified working conditions in a way that interfered with their work of representing union members.  

“The Legault government has been making anti-union statements for the past few days, and now it’s being rapped over the knuckles in the middle of bargaining talks,” said union spokespersons, speaking with one voice. “Health and social service unions invite the government to change its attitude. They are calling on it to be more cooperative and offer better working conditions and pay to women and men employed in public services,” added FSSS-CSN president Réjean Leclerc, FP-CSN first vice-president Jessica Goldschleger, APTS first vice-president Josée Fréchette, FSQ-CSQ president Isabelle Dumaine, SQEES-FTQ president Sylvie Nelson, Conseil provincial des affaires sociales (CPAS-CUPE Québec) president Maxime Ste-Marie, and FIQ president Julie Bouchard.  

The government was interfering once again with union activities when it unilaterally changed employees’ working conditions without negotiating with unions. The TAT decision is sharply critical of the “total disrespect for the collective bargaining process” and “delinquent attitude” displayed by the health minister, his negotiators, and his ministry. The TAT is requiring the MSSS to pay punitive damages, but also to publish the decision online and, especially, to stop bargaining in bad faith and interfering with union activities. This is not the first time the government has been found guilty in this respect. Its bad-faith bargaining and interference in union activities have been recognized by the TAT in other recent decisions.  

“What will it take for the government to understand that it will never be able to provide better working conditions for health and social service employees by acting on its own?” said the spokespersons. “The government is not above the law. Not only has it been refusing to listen to our negotiators’ solutions, but now, the court is sending a clear message and bringing it back to order. The government needs to show that it’s willing to consider solutions put forward by union representatives, who speak on behalf of the members they represent.”