Some 420,000 Quebec public sector workers seeking higher wages to keep pace with inflation walked off the job on Monday for the first of several one-day strikes.
Schools, health care facilities and social services were expected to be disrupted. Three more strike days are also planned for late November.
The coalition of major unions also threatened on Monday “an unlimited general strike” if the two sides are unable to reach an agreement soon.
The Quebec government has offered a 10 per cent salary increase over five years and a one-time payment of $1,000 for each worker, which the coalition described as “insulting, offensive and contemptuous.”
Failing to keep up with soaring costs of living, it would effectively “make workers poorer,” the unions said in a statement.
The so-called Common Front of unions are seeking raises for workers two to three points above inflation, which recently slowed to 3.8 per cent from a June 2022 peak of 8.1 per cent.
