This Winter, Quebec Public Sector Workers Conducted Their Biggest Strike Ever
Last month in Quebec, 420,000 public sector workers in health care and education walked out in one of the largest strikes in North American history. With negotiations for other Quebec unions still ongoing, more big strikes are possible.
Public sector workers and supporters during a strike outside McGill University Health Centre (MUHC) in Montreal, Quebec, on December 8, 2023. (Allen McInnis / Bloomberg via Getty Images)
One of the largest strikes in North American history happened this winter and the struggle is ongoing. In Quebec, 420,000 public sector workers in health care and education, united in a “Common Front” (Front Commun) of four major union federations, spent seven days on strike from December 8 to 14. This followed half-day and three-day work stoppages in November.
In addition to the Common Front, 66,500 workers in one of the teachers unions — the Féderation Autonome d’Enseignement (FAE) — were on strike for more than a month and more than 80,000 workers with a nurses union, the Fédération Interprofessionelle de la Santé du Québec (FIQ), struck from December 11 to 14.
Altogether, around 570,000 workers, out of Quebec’s population of 8.5 million, struck their employer, the government of Quebec, which is led by center-right premier François Legault.
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