A rally in Rimouski against “austerity” decisions of the government

A hundred people gathered at the Rimouski Beauséjour Park in a family atmosphere, in order to protest against the Legault government measures which they describe as “austerity”.

This is an initiative of the Bas-Saint-Laurent Union Center, which, at the same time, denounced bill 89.

This law would allow the government to intervene in work conflicts and limit the duration of a strike to ensure the well-being of the population.

As unionized, the last resort that we have during negotiations is the strikeAnnouncement Yves-Aimé Boulay, the regional councilor of the Federation of Workers of Quebec (FTQ) Bas-Saint-Laurent-Gaspésie-Îles-de-la-Madeleine.

Without this right of appeal, Employers will no longer negotiatehe says.

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Cut concerns, it affects everyone, it’s not just a union questionspecifies Alexis d’Aoust-Tremblay, the regional vice-president of the Alliance of Professional and Technical Staff of Health and Social Services (APTS) for Bas-Saint-Laurent.

The intersyndical and community rally took place a few days after the International Day of Workers.

We represent those who unfortunately are not unionized, those who are below the scale, the workers found at the food bankdescribes the popular action coordinator Rimouski-Neigette, Michel Dubé.

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His organization deplores in particular the low increase in the minimum wage of the Legault government.

For Michel Dubé, the celebration of the International Day of Workers this year is different, It is not a demonstration, it is not a walk in the streets, we really wanted it to be festive, family.

Protest in a festive way

At the end of their inter -union general states, the power stations adopted a family formula and invited community groups.

You have to do family days, work with community organizations, everyone together because we all have the same challengesindicates Yves-Aimé Boulay.

There are inflatable games, we have makeup, a food-truckwe have music, we have atmosphere!rejoices Alexis d’Aoust-Tremblay, the regional vice-president of theAPTS For Bas-Saint-Laurent.

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For some workers like William Gagnon, a factor, the event allows him to kill two strokes with one stone. I come to encourage the whole union movement, and at the same time, we came to take a little tour with the childrenhe explains.

It is important to support events that take place like this to demonstrate to the government that we stand in the face of its austerity measures.

Andrée-Anne Chambers, employee of the Interprofessional Health of Quebec Federation (FIQ), came with her little dog and two daughters. It is their future that is played out in all these reforms, which are going at the momentshe testifies.

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We have a lot of difficulty recognizing our workersconcludes the regional vice-president of the Federation of Health and Social Services (FSSS-CSN), Liette Ross, We are in the process of making us make huge declines in our rights.

The union and community rally takes place within the framework of the social strike in Bas-Saint-Laurent, which ends tomorrow.

With information from Raphaëlle Ainsley-Vincent