Employees use their break to protest new pension plan
Thousands of members of the Coalition Syndicale pour le Libre Négociation participated in noisy 15-minute breaks to protest Quebec’s proposed pension plan.
Blue and white-collar workers, firefighters, police officers and transportation workers gathered together on June 17 in Montreal, Gatineau, Sherbrooke, Saguenay and Laval to express their anger over the deposition of Bill 3.
Tabled by the provincial government on June 12, the proposed plan — officially titled An Act to Foster the Financial Health and Sustainability of Municipal Defined Benefit Pension Plans — would see municipalities and employees split pension contributions 50-50 and could see indexed pension increases put on hold for retirees.
An umbrella group of several labour groups, the Coalition represents 65,000 municipal workers across Quebec.
The labour group said it strongly opposes any legislation that would jeopardize the fundamental right to free collective bargaining on the issue of pensions, calling Bill 3 a “bulldozer law” that forces every municipal pension plan into the same boat.
More than 120 different collective agreements apply to municipal workers in Quebec, according to the Coalition.
