Quebec strikers fines
Socialist Organiser1983 1983-02-24Read it in the scan (PDF), scan page 4 →
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TRIAL dates are being set for 24,000 public service workers in Quebec charged under the provincial government's ferocious anti-strike laws. The first will come up in court on Marchi 7. Another 50 unions and 1E union leaders are also being charged under the new Law 111 passed through the National Assembly last Thursday, 17th.
Penalties under Law 111 and previous anti-strike decrees can include huge fines, sacking, suspension of trade union rights, and loss of seniority.
Last year the provincial government passed decree cutting public service wages by 20% for the first three months of 1983, freezing them from May at below December 1982 levels, and imposing increased workloads and job cuts.
The unions have retreated a long way in face of this assault. 200,000 hospital, civil service, and school workers struck in January and early February, but have returned to work. The teachers stuck it out longer. but voted on Sunday 20th tr return to work for three weeks "to allow negotiations' They have effectively conceded the wages issue, but are fighting on jobs an‹ increased workload.
A minority of teachers opposed the suspension of the strike, and at John Abbott Junior College in western Montreal, there was a picket line on Monday 21st with students and