People hike to a lookout point in the Hautes Gorges de la Riviere Malbaie National Park, a park in the Charlevoix region of Quebec, on Sunday, June 10, 2018. As Quebec busiest summer holiday season begins with the province's construction holiday, vacationers may have their holiday plans impacted with the threat of a general strike looming among provincial park workers. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Justin Tang
July 19, 2019 - 12:55 PM
MONTREAL - As Quebec's busiest summer holiday season kicks off, vacationers may have their holiday plans affected by the threat of a general strike looming among provincial park workers.
Some 300 workers are already off the job at Quebec's provincial parks network, known as SEPAQ, and the union says 2,500 members could be joining them Saturday.
The threat comes as thousands of the province's construction workers embarked on their annual two weeks of summer holiday, ending on Aug. 3.
Negotiations were ongoing Friday to come to an agreement and avoid a potential wrench in people's vacation plans.
Offers and counter-offers filed this week by the employer and the union were rejected, and a conciliator was appointed, but there has been no breakthrough yet.
Union members want a single salary structure for all employees and annual cost-of-living increases.
In the event of a strike, management has said it plans to keep parks open to the public with reduced services, and officials have asked vacationers to check on the status of services before arriving.
News from © The Canadian Press, 2019