No Matane-North Matane crossing for 10 days

The Matane-Baie-Comeau-Godbout crossing service will be paralyzed from July 4 to 13 due to a strike launched by employees affiliated to the CSN. The union members claim a salary increase and deplore that the negotiations do not advance with their employer, the Corporate Society of Quebec (STQ).

This strike is triggered by non-patented employees of the National Union of Cross-Outs of Quebec-CSN. They voted 90 % in favor of pressure means which include a bank of unlimited strike days.

Consequently, the service from Matane to the North Shore is interrupted, in the same way as the Quebec-Lévis crossing.

The union members affiliated to the CSN deplore it to be without a collective agreement since April 2023 and have had no salary increase in three years.

The union requests a salary catch -up which it considers essential, because hiring and retention of personnel are more than difficult.

For us, it is unacceptable to continue working in wage conditions outside the market in which we evolve.

Patrick St-Laurent quotes the case of sailors. They are hired at $ 20 an hour and can reach a maximum hourly rate of $ 21.94. The union members would like to increase this hourly rate up to $ 32 or $ 33 per hour.

Negotiations are currently undergoing the STQbut the union representative indicates that he sees no progress, because nothing moves.

We are ready to settle it as quickly as possible. This is what we wanted and that is what we always wantdeclares Mr. St-Laurent.

The STQ did not wish to comment on this file so as not to influence discussions at the negotiating table.

A strike that changes projects

Like dozens of other Quebecers, Mario Lévesque is in line to be part of the last crossing planned to the North Shore by July 14.

I had to take the boat on Saturday coming, but I have cancellé The rest of my vacation to be sure to cross the other side. […] We had a week’s vacation and we pick up with thatexplains this resident of Sept-Îles.

Mr. Lévesque, however, includes the pressure means used by workers. He is of the opinion that they have a fight to make, and they must do it.

Langis Arsenault, a septilian who has been using this traveler for several decades, abounds in this direction. Himself formerly retired unionized, he does not understand that the situation has arrived there. Mr. Arsenault also shortened his stay in Gaspésie to go home.

[Le gouvernement du Québec] Just pay them and there will be no problem, they will work. […] He should have taken the money from Northvolt and give it to unionizedhe says.

For entrepreneurs who are dealing on the North Shore, the crossing of crosspieces is equivalent to more trips on the road, therefore more expenses.

It generates a lot of costs for companies like us who work on the North Shore but who remain in the Gaspé. We can’t wait for it, as much for workers who need an agreement as for usmentions Rémi Lajoie, foreman for the company Roy, Duguay and Associés.

Various negotiation groups

This labor conflict concerns non-patented employees who work at the Matane-Baie-Comeau-Godbout crossing, the Quebec-Lévis crossing and the Quebec Naval Repair Workshop. In total, this dispute affects 200 workers.

Non -patented staff include employees who moor ships, sailors, kitchen assistants, valets, herds and office staff managing reservations.

The STQ specifies by press release that an agreement was recently concluded with another group of workers. These are employees affiliated with the Metallos union, either navigation officers and mechanical officers.

The employer has chosen to settle [ses problèmes] With its patented and to leave us aside. He lets us stand. With the arrival of the summer, after two years of negotiations, we can no longer continue to accept thispleads Patrick St-Laurent.

The last cross before the strike took place Thursday at 5.30 p.m. from Baie-Comeau to Matane.

With information from Jean-François Deschênes