Quebec government worries about repercussions of a prolonged ArcelorMittal strike
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Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet speaks during a news conference in Montreal, Sunday, March, 21, 2021. Boulet says he is concerned about the economic repercussions of a strike involving 2,500 ArcelorMittal workers announced Monday evening. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graham Hughes
MONTREAL – Quebec’s Labour Minister says he is concerned about the economic repercussions of a strike involving 2,500 ArcelorMittal workers announced Monday evening.
Jean Boulet said today in a statement a prolonged strike could have a significant impact on the Côte-Nord region and the province’s economy.
The 2,500 unionized workers are members of the United Steelworkers union and are affiliated with the Quebec Federation of Labour; they went on strike Monday evening after rejecting the employer’s offer.
When there is work outside the large metropolitan regions like Montreal and Quebec City in Outaouais, in Abitibi, in Gaspésie these companies take contracts there and, when they arrive, they bring the workers they know, says Éric Boisjoly, general manager of FTQ-Construction. Photo by John Mahoney /Montreal Gazette
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The FTQ and FTQ-Construction unions are asking the Quebec government to ensure that construction sites being set up in the province’s regions during the economic recovery will employ workers from those regions.
The heads of the two unions, Daniel Boyer and Éric Boisjoly, have sent a letter to Labour Minister Jean Boulet as well as ministers representing various regions.
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The National Assembly is in the latter stages of passing occupational health and safety legislation, Bill 59. That may sound dry and uninteresting, but much is at stake for working women. The future of equitable access to health and safety programs at work, health protection during pregnancy and rehabilitation after workplace injury are being decided. This in a context where women’s rates of serious injuries have been rising three times faster than men’s, according to a study released recently by the research arm of the CNESST workers’ compensation board.
The new bill does not help. In some ways, it will put women at greater risk, as well as men.
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