Bitume Québec warns the Quebec government and its engineers against the risks of disruption and undue and damaging delays that could result from an unlimited strike of the 1,800 government engineers

MONTREAL, April 21, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - Bitume Québec believes that a general strike by government engineers could only jeopardize the catching up of the maintenance deficit that the Quebec road network has been suffering for too many years and that, over the last few years, has significantly improved as a result of the major road investments made by the current government in all regions of Quebec.

A few hundred construction sites like this one could be stopped if the Quebec government engineers go on strike. (CNW Group/Bitume Québec)

This was stated today by the President of Bitume Québec, Mr. Tytus Zurawski, who described the situation as dramatic if the MTQ's road projects, supervised by government engineers, were all stopped and if the construction projects that have not already been launched were put on unbearable hold while waiting for the required signatures and authorizations.

"This would be a disaster for the industry and the users of the highway system that is the backbone of our national economy," said Zurawski, noting that this threat could also cause irreparable collateral damage to contractors.

Zurawski noted that contractors are already facing multiple pressures in terms of recruitment and retention of labour, rising transportation costs (gasoline), increasing raw material prices (hydrocarbons) and damaging slowdowns in the supply chain of parts and equipment.

For Bitume Québec, taxpayers-users and the government cannot afford the luxury of having to postpone until next year projects that should be started as early as this spring, thanks to major investments of nearly $7 billion in road infrastructure by the Quebec government for the 2022-2024 horizon.  "The roadwork season is already too short and cannot tolerate impacts on labour relations, while sudden and unpredictable climate change is a major threat to the association's members," said Zurawski.

It would also be an aberration, according to Bitume Québec, to have to postpone the numerous underground work projects of municipalities that are waiting for subsidies for their water and sewer system rehabilitation projects and that would have to wait in the absence of engineers in charge of projects to give the green light to them. And this is without counting the postponement of many deadlines for multiple private developers' projects while waiting for their environmental authorization certificate.

Without making any value judgement on the legitimacy of the unions' demands and the government's offers, the organization finally invited the parties, namely the Association professionnelle des ingénieurs du gouvernement du Québec (APIGQ) and the Conseil du trésor, to show good faith at the negotiating table by taking into account the essential balance between individual interests and the public interest.

SOURCE Bitume Québec

Source: Tytus Zurawski, President, Bitume Québec; Contact: Alexandre Dumas, Vice President - Corporate Communications, NATIONAL Public Relations, 514-898-4636 (cell), [email protected]