In recent years, work conflicts have continued to paralyze entire sections of our economy.
Almost every week, a new sector is blocked, essential services are interrupted and strategic companies see their operations weakened.
While Quebec faces one of the greatest trade wars in its history, it is also threatened from the inside by repeated work stoppages which undermine its competitiveness and shake its reputation.
Bidding
The recent labor conflict at Héroux-Devtek is a sad example. This company, highly strategic for the aeronautical supply chain, is today plunged into uncertainty due to a work stoppage which threatens hundreds of quality jobs in Laval. The last conflict in this company dates back to the last century. Despite the efforts made by the employers’ part to avoid such an impasse, dialogue failed, to the detriment of workers and the Quebec economy.
What we see being repeated is an escalation of claims that goes beyond the economic reality in which our businesses evolve. However, it is recognized that workers in the aeronautics already benefit from excellent working conditions. These quality jobs play an essential role in the creation of collective wealth and in the dynamism of our economy.
In a context of global competition and inflationary pressures, refusing to show realism amounts to compromising the very future of jobs that we claim to defend. The current situation could well push this business, like so many others before it, to consider relocating its operations to environments where expectations are more realistic.
Héroux-Devtek is not an isolated case. Too often, negotiations are transformed into an ideological showdown, where the long -term viability of companies is relegated to the background.
Build a balance
The question that is now necessary is as follows: until when are we going to tolerate that unrealistic postures and short-sighted strategies make Quebec growth? Employers and unions have a shared duty: that of building sustainable balance, where workers’ well-being is accompanied by a business environment conducive to investment and job creation. However, this balance is too often broken by the mercantile appetite of the large union centers, whose excessive requirements threaten the prosperity of all.
It is time to hand over collective prosperity at the heart of social dialogue. We can no longer accept that union delicacy jeopardizes the future of all. Bill 89, law to consider the needs of the population more in the event of a strike or lockout, will be able to settle certain issues, but will its implementation arrive too late?
Marie-Claude Perreault
President and Management of Management, interim
Quebec employers’ advice