Engineers employed by the Government of Quebec go to the Arbitration Tribunal to try to push the Treasury Board to resolve the payroll problems they are experiencing more quickly.
These engineers, members of the Professional Association of Engineers of the Government of Quebec (APIGQ), previously worked a 35-hour workweek. At the end of the last negotiation of their collective agreement, they agreed to extend this work week to 37.5 hours, being paid accordingly.
However, the pay has still not been increased to reflect these 37.5 hours, although they started working for 37.5 hours, argues the APIGQ in its request.
The vast majority of employees have seen their work week increased to 37.5 hours from December 2022, underlines the union.
APIGQ had already complained to the employer’s representatives, who attributed the whole thing to “a problem with the programming of the systems at the Ministry of Cybersecurity and Digital”, relates the union in its request.
The union has already filed grievances since.
And now he’s asking the Arbitration Tribunal to issue an order to compel the Treasury Board to correct “recurring errors” in payroll without delay.
“I can’t believe we have to go to court to get engineers paid for the hours they work. We hope that these legal proceedings can draw the attention of the government to the absurdity of the situation,” commented union president Marc-André Martin.
Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel has already said she’s aware of the issue and understands the “discomfort” it’s causing affected workers. “We are very aware of it and we are working on it,” she previously said.
She added that the engineers would not lose money and that if interest was to be paid, it would be.
