Hydro-Québec uses contract workers who work full-time from abroad, denounces a union of the state company in a communication sent to its members. Hydro-Québec assures for its part that these are “exceptional cases”.
Posted at 7:01 p.m.
In a communication sent to its approximately 5,400 members, the Union of Hydro-Québec Specialists and Professionals (SSPHQ) strongly denounced Hydro-Québec’s use of contract workers who reside outside of Canada.
It cites the example of a “contractual [qui] had been working full-time from Portugal for more than four years” as well as “at least two other contract workers [qui] also worked full-time from Morocco,” noted The Press.
“Meanwhile, the employer requests in the new employment contract your presence in the office obligatory at least two days a week and can only increase. Double standards,” it is written. The SSPHQ mentions that these foreign resources would be paid “two to four times more than an employee”.
The SSPHQ refused to reveal the exact number of cases identified, when contacted by The Press. Its president, Gilles Gazade, also made a point of emphasizing that this relocation of expertise abroad was accompanied by the communication of information and data outside our borders: “By acting in this way, there is a sharing our know-how and knowledge. »
In its communication, the SSPHQ writes: “We are obliged to go to court to enforce the laws and our employment contract.” It mentions the filing of 24 requests with the Administrative Labor Tribunal for situations where Hydro-Québec should have turned to its own employees rather than turning externally, according to the union. “Dozens more will follow,” we can read. These cases would not necessarily be linked to contract workers located abroad.
“The cases that are reported are exceptional cases,” declares Hydro-Québec. By email, spokesperson Louis-Olivier Batty assures that the state corporation favors Quebec expertise, “but on occasion for questions of availability of resources or expertise, we can exceptionally use consultants working outside Quebec.
The use of people residing abroad takes place for “humanitarian reasons or in cases of advanced expertise”, he explains, maintaining that he acts in compliance with collective agreements and agreements in force with unions.
This exit comes while Hydro-Québec has been in negotiations, since January 2024, with the unions which represent employees for the renewal of their respective collective agreement. Neither side has commented on the negotiations.
