For the first time in their history, the Teamsters, present in Quebec since 1903, have negotiated their first collective agreement with the provincial government. Local 106, which represents hundreds of workers in the senior care and healthcare industry, recently participated in the Front commun, a province-wide effort by trade unions to consolidate contract negotiations for tens of thousands of workers, including 500 Teamsters working in centres that had just been integrated into the public system, becoming what is known in Quebec as CHSLDs.
Jean-Philippe Hairabedian, a business agent at Local 106, became the first Teamsters Union representative to negotiate directly with the provincial government. Thanks to his dedication, our members obtained significant wage increases, along with various guarantees and protections for the future.
“It was a good experience,” explains Jean-Philippe Hairabedian. “Negotiating with the government is very different from negotiating with a private company. We are not facing people with the same reality or considerations as managers from private firms. But at the end of the day, the only thing that matters is the well-being of our members.”
Jean Chartrand, President of Local 106, is very pleased with the results: “We often associate the Teamsters with the transport sector. However, this shows that the Teamsters are also well established in the healthcare sector. The Teamsters represent hundreds of nurses, paramedics, and other healthcare professionals in its membership, everywhere in the country.”
