The Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) is seeking an injunction to put an end to demonstrations by paramedics in front of its distribution centres in Montreal and Quebec City Friday.
Paramedics with the CSN-affiliated Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux (FSSS) are picketing in front of two SAQ warehouses to call attention to their protracted labour conflict.
“By meeting today to block the two warehouses of the [SAQ] in Montreal and Quebec, the paramedics want to highlight that it is not a question of financial means for the government, but of political will,” the FSSS-CSN said in a statement.
Ambulance workers have been without a collective agreement for the past two years, according to the union. Working conditions and schedules are the main sticking points.
Several paramedic unions, including the FTQ-affiliated Canadian Union of Public Employees and the FSSS-CSN, have been on strike since last summer, others for the past few weeks.
But because they are required to provide essential services, including all patient transports and transports between institutions, the labour dispute has not been visible to the public. The paramedics’ pressure tactics are limited to gestures such as refusing to file paperwork in a timely fashion.
According to the FSSS-CSN, the pickets at the two SAQ distribution centres is only the beginning.
“This large-scale action is a precursor to others to come,” the union said.
The provincial liquor board, which has nothing to do with the labour dispute, said it needs an injunction to stop the protests as picketers are blocking the exits and entrances of the buildings and preventing trucks from getting out.
“These events unfortunately disrupt our activities, but we are confident that the consequences on our operations will be minor,” the SAQ said in a statement.
