CANADA: Quebec workers take action

January 14, 2004
Issue 

Jeff Shantz, Toronto

On December 11, tens of thousands of workers across Quebec province took direct action against the newly elected government of Premier Jean Charest. Charest's Liberal Party government is taking its cue from other neoliberal provincial governments in Ontario and British Columbia, which have severely attacked the rights of workers and poor people.

The December 11 mass demonstrations, which may be a precursor to a full-scale general strike, were organised primarily by the Quebec Federation of Labour (QFL), the Confederation des Syndicats Nationaux and the Confederation des Syndicats du Quebec. Pickets went up at factories, government buildings, schools, libraries, hotels and other workplaces across the province.

Among the measures being opposed by workers are the government's plans to reduce the presence of unions within the health-care sector, changes to the labour code, which will make it easier for private companies and municipalities to contract out work, and sweeping proposals to cut government services.

Unions also organised against government plans to merge collective bargaining units in hospitals and prevent child-care workers from joining unions. Throughout the day, general assemblies and workshops were held to educate people about the Liberal government's plans and the implications of its proposed legislation.

Picket lines, along with a work-to-rule campaign, by mechanics led to major public transport disruptions in Quebec City. In Montreal, only 24% of buses were running during the rush hour.

Strikers carried out a strategy of economic disruption designed to hit the government and its corporate backers "where it hurts". Estimates from the Chamber of Commerce put the cost to business at tens of millions of dollars.

The major ports of Quebec City, Montreal and Trois-Rivieres were almost completely shut down for 48 hours by port workers blocking shipments to and from the province's manufacturers. Eventually, riot cops were deployed to open the ports in Montreal but they were quickly encircled and had to retreat. A major portion of Quebec's half-a-billion-dollar-per-day international trade passes through the ports, so the shutdowns were quite significant.

Three major highway blockades stopped transportation through entire regions of the province, especially in resource-rich areas of northern Quebec. In one instance, hundreds of workers dumped tonnes of sand on a highway. Riot squads of the provincial police were called in to clear some of the highways overnight but met stiff resistance from workers.

Half of Montreal's public child day-care centres were shut down in opposition to proposals to raise daily child-care fees by what would amount to a 40% increase in parents' contributions. Approximately 40,000 people took to the streets to support the child-care workers. Significantly, parents voted in favour of the protest closures and provided alternative parent-run services for the day as an act of solidarity with picketing child-care workers.

In Quebec City, two demonstrations were held by almost 2000 child-care workers and users. Quebec workers fought for decades to win affordable day care for children and they are not about to give it up. Picketers demanded improved accessibility, better quality services and better working conditions instead of the cuts.

By the end of the day (some demonstrations continued for a second day), QFL officials were openly talking about a general strike to be held as soon as January.

In fact, approximately one-third of the federation's affiliated union locals wanted the December 11 action to be a full-scale general strike. The leader of the QFL, Henri Masse, remarked that he had not seen so much anger in the QFL since the 1972 general strike.

From Green Left Weekly, January 14, 2004.
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