“Gilligan irritates UdeM:” reaction of PSAC-Quebec

Montreal, March 6, 2018 — The Public Service Alliance of Canada, Quebec Region (PSAC-Quebec) wishes to respond to the article “Gilligan irrite l’UdeM” which appeared in La Presse this morning.

“Fundamentally, the issue concerns a union’s freedom of expression in a difficult bargaining situation. The pressure tactics used at the time to bring the employer to the bargaining table were not out of the ordinary. Their purpose was to get the attention of management so that bargaining could begin. We are surprised to find that we are still in Court arguing a matter that dates back to 2015 and is a labour relations issue” stated Magali Picard, Regional Executive Vice-President of PSAC-Quebec.

We should point out that in 2015 it proved impossible to come to an agreement on a bargaining approach for the teaching and research assistants unit and the Université de Montréal (UdeM). After several fruitless discussions, PSAC-Quebec decided to use different means to bring the employer and management to the bargaining table. Since then, UdeM has filed a motion for an injunction and is seeking damages from the local’s former administrators.

The teaching and research assistants unit is composed of students who work for the UdeM. They are paid employees as defined in the Labour Code and represent approximately 4,000 atypical workers on an annual basis.

PSAC-Quebec will issue no further comments on this matter in order to give a chance to the Settlement Conference which is scheduled for tomorrow.  

 

For more information:

Patrick Leblanc, leblanp@psac-afpc.com, 514-706-5997

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