Bitume Québec deplores the fact that the unlimited strike of 1,800 government engineers has begun to cause worksite closures

MONTREAL, May 9, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - The unlimited strike by government engineers risks causing major collateral damage to contractors, users and the entire Quebec economy if this conflict persists and does not find a solution in the short term. This is the opinion expressed today by Bitume Québec, which represents the majority of the key players in the field of road maintenance; bitumen producers and user companies.

"The dispute is on a dangerous slope, to say the least, with the approach of the summer season, which normally marks the start of the major annual rehabilitation and maintenance work sequence," said Bitume Québec President Tytus Zurawski today. Tytus Zurawski, while deploring the fact that negotiations between the Association of Professional Engineers of the Government of Quebec (APIGQ) seem to have given way to a psychological guerrilla war that will lead nowhere and could only prove harmful to everyone.

The president of Bitume Québec fears the worst, as the spring thaw restrictions to which the trucking industry is subject were lifted a few hours ago (May 6 - 11:59 p.m.) for administrative Zone 1 (St. Lawrence Valley) and will be lifted on May 20 for Zones 2 and 3, due to favourable weather conditions, thus cancelling the load limits authorized for heavy transport. Zone 1 covers all of southern Quebec, i.e. large urban areas such as Gatineau, Montreal, Sherbrooke, Trois-Rivières and Quebec City, and extends to Rivière-du-Loup in the Lower St. Lawrence.

For Bitume Québec, this period during which the pavements recover their bearing capacity brings together the essential and ideal conditions for launching construction projects, which is nothing short of uncertain in the current period. For the Association, the delays in the start of hundreds of construction sites will generate exponential delays for each day lost, which will be costly, from all points of view, for the rest of the season. Bitume Québec deplores the fact that three (3) important construction sites had to be stopped because of this engineers' strike which is strangely reminiscent of the scenarios that Quebec witnessed, helplessly, in 2017 and 2021.

"It is important that this conflict does not degenerate into a horror story," continued Mr. Zurawski, since the strategic period in which Quebec is engaging these days, from a road point of view, is conducive to ensuring the protection of road assets for the benefit of all road users; the preservation of a safe network being the ultimate guarantee of the maintenance of a network which is the backbone of the economy.

This is already heavily affected by the jolts of the supply chain and sudden increases in prices and tariffs of all kinds, not to mention the problems of labour scarcity.

Without wishing to interfere in any way with the negotiation process, Bitume Québec went so far as to suggest that the parties call upon a special mediator without delay in order to bring the management and union parties to a mutually satisfactory agreement.

The President of the Association said that he dares to believe that the issues at the heart of the dispute, namely the alleged difficulty of attracting and retaining internal expertise, as well as compensation, due in particular to an insufficient salary offer, will not be able to find a reasonable and reasoned outcome in the short term, in the name of the common interest.

SOURCE Bitume Québec