By many metrics, Qu茅bec鈥檚聽labour聽unions are the envy of North America. Numerically, the province has the聽聽on the continent, at around 40 percent of the workforce, including over 80 percent of public sector workers. It has played a key role in building聽one of the most聽聽welfare states on the continent, thanks in part to its聽聽to community organizations and social movements. Quebec聽labour聽has flexed its muscles in recent years with an uptick in strike levels not seen in several decades, most notably the 鈥淐ommon Front鈥� public sector strikes of late 2023, which involved聽nearly half聽a million workers and forced an intransigent CAQ government to back down.聽
At the same time, as with unions around the world, Qu茅bec聽labour聽faces many challenges. Internally, Qu茅bec鈥檚 system of 鈥渓abour聽pluralism,鈥� with multiple unions and聽labour聽confederations claiming the same聽jurisdictions, sometimes results in 鈥渞aiding,鈥� where unions fight each other over groups of already-unionized workers. Externally, the CAQ government has聽聽with budget cutbacks and layoffs, while enacting a series of laws aimed at聽聽and to engage in聽. Meanwhile, private sector employers have taken a more aggressive anti-union stance, emboldened by retail giant Amazon鈥檚 move last year to聽聽rather than negotiate with a group of unionized workers at its Laval warehouse.聽
Sensing a need to assess the state of their movement collectively and chart a course ahead, leaders of all nine major Quebec聽labour聽organizations聽launched last year a major consultative initiative known as the聽聽(EGS,聽Estates-General of Qu茅bec聽Labour). This is the first time聽a聽process聽of this scale聽has been undertaken.聽
The name is freighted with historical meaning, evoking the representative assemblies聽under the聽Ancien聽r茅gime聽in eighteenth-century France that culminated in the French Revolution. But in modern times across La Francophonie, but especially in Qu茅bec and other French-speaking parts of Canada, the term has been used to describe other large-scale processes of social consultation to address important social issues, such as the state of postsecondary education, the status of the French language in Ontario, the Qu茅bec legal system, and more.聽
Launched in March 2025, the EGS involved a series of consultations involving thousands of union members across the province around seven themes: Qu茅bec聽labour鈥檚聽role in society,聽building聽union power, the current聽labour聽relations model, unions鈥� political role, unions鈥櫬爎epresentative role聽and members鈥� sense of belonging, inter-union relations, and the relation between unions and historically marginalized groups.聽Out of these consultations came a reflection document, which was circulated among the participating聽labour聽organizations.聽
That year-long process culminated in a two-day symposium, held March 31 and April 1 in Drummondville, where delegates discussed the findings of the consultation process. The proceedings started with an opening plenary session featuring community figures聽close to the聽labour聽movement.聽聽
I聽had the聽honour聽of being invited to聽address the delegates, alongside聽Fran莽oise David聽(feminist leader and co-founder of Qu茅bec聽solidaire), Vincent Chevarie (representing Au bas de聽l鈥櫭ヽhelle, a community group representing non-unionized workers), Manon Poirier (Director of the Order of Human Resources Professionals), and Pascale St-Onge (former federal cabinet minister and former president of the F茅d茅ration聽nationale聽des communications et de la culture, a CSN affiliate). The moderator was journalist Fran莽oise Gu茅nette.聽
Our mandate as panelists was to comment frankly on the findings from the consultations over the past year, and to offer some provocative insights. I can say that we did our best to be provocative聽(Fran莽oise David even dared to broach the topic of inter-union raiding), and that聽we did not shy away from discussing the multiple challenges currently facing Qu茅bec聽labour.聽
The plenary set the tone for the聽remainder聽of the symposium, which consisted of workshops where delegates from all different unions, sectors, and industries broke into smaller groups to focus on one of the seven designated themes.聽
Having stayed for the rest of the聽symposium聽and attended the workshops, what impressed me most was the spirit of openness that characterized the discussions.聽Given the siege mentality that prevails in many parts of the聽labour聽movement (not without reason), it can sometimes be hard to聽dig into the many challenges that unions and workers face today in Qu茅bec. But delegates聽seemed to grasp聽the gravity of the聽moment, and聽took full advantage聽of the opportunity to share their visions for the future of their movement.聽聽
For me, as someone who has spent most of my adult life in and around the聽labour聽movement, both as a scholar and practitioner, I came away from the event deeply impressed with the EGS project. Indeed, it is hard to imagine a similar initiative being undertaken elsewhere in Canada or the United States. The聽challenges聽Qu茅bec聽labour聽remain聽enormous, but a process like this is essential for figuring out a way forward.聽It was a聽privilege for me to be able to put my research聽expertise聽to聽work聽in order to聽enrich the conversation.聽
is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at 成人VR视频. He is a comparative historical sociologist with an interest in the study of class, politics, and institutional change. His research focuses on explaining the diverging trajectories of working class power in the United States and Canada over the course of the twentieth century.聽