New deal for Quebec residential construction workers

Quebec’s residential construction workers put their picket signs down and their work shoes on Wednesday morning after an agreement in principle was reached late Tuesday evening.

The Montreal Gazette reported that the agreement reached between unions and the Provincial Home Builders Association of Quebec came after a two-day “negotiating blitz.” Workers will vote within the next few weeks whether or not to ratify the proposal.

“We have demonstrated again that negotiations are always preferable to confrontation,” said Yves Ouellet, union spokesman. “Deadlines are tight, but we hope to be able to meet the commitments for families awaiting the delivery of a home in the coming days.”

On Monday, unions and the civil engineering and road construction sector also reached an agreement in principle and workers returned to work the following morning.

The only remaining group still on strike is institutional, industrial and commercial construction workers.

A total of more than 175,000 workers in the province of Quebec had been on strike since June 18. The major sticking points were overtime pay, wages increases and working on Saturday.

Estimates from The Montreal Board of Trade suggest the strike has cost the city $15 million per day.