MONTREAL — Unionized workers at Quebec's provincial parks have reached an agreement in principal on a new contract.
The agreement — the details of which were not unveiled — will be presented to delegates on Tuesday, the Syndicat de la fonction publique et parapublique du Quebec confirmed Saturday.
The agency that oversees the province's park and wildlife reserve network — known as SEPAQ — also declined to comment further through a spokesman.
Details will be presented first to roughly 50 union delegates and if they approve, it will be presented to the province's 2,200 unionized workers — including field operations, day labourers, tour guides, reception staff and park wardens.
Workers have been without an agreement since January 2019 and negotiations have been ongoing for some time and an agreement in principal was rejected by members last September.
Strike days were held last summer and fall and more recently, the COVID-19 pandemic put off negotiations.
Union members had put off planned job action during Fete nationale and Canada Day long weekends to give talks another chance.
But they had remained open to a strike during Quebec's construction holiday in late July.
The main point of contention concerns the wage conditions as the hourly rate of a large number of these workers — often seasonal — fluctuates between minimum wage and about 20 dollars per hour.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 27, 2020.
The Canadian Press
