Several hundred Quebec legal aid lawyers will begin a two-day strike on Monday to challenge the Treasury Board’s decision to refuse them to pay equality to Crown prosecutors.
Picket strikes are planned in several provincial cities. The strikers also plan to appear in front of the county offices of several ministers, including Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel in Trois-Rivières and Simon Jolin-Barette in Beloeil.
A demonstration was also on the program in front of the National Assembly on Tuesday.
Two weeks ago, approximately 200 legal aid attorneys who were union members affiliated with CSN left work half a day. The layoffs affected the regions of Montreal, Laval, Laurentides, Lanaudière, Bas-Saint-Laurent and Gaspésie.
Legal aid lawyers are calling for pay equality among criminal and penal prosecution lawyers. Prosecutors have won a 10% increase in four years starting in 2020.
The president of the Union of Legal Aid Lawyers of Montreal and Laval, Justine Lambert-Boulianne, lamented the lack of funding of the legal aid system in Quebec.
Lack of manpower
He added that legal aid suffers from lack of manpower, young lawyers are more likely to be prosecutors because of better salary conditions.
” For us, this is a question of basic justice. Why should people who sue people be paid more than those who defend them? “
Me Lambert-Boulianne could not determine how many cases would be delayed because of the strike. However, the impact is expected to be significant, as legal aid lawyers are needed in most courthouses across the province.
Approximately 15 attorneys will continue to work on high-priority cases that cannot be postponed, such as those involving youth or sexual violence.
Other lawyers, members of the Quebec Federation of Legal Aid Lawyers, are expected to stop working on Wednesday and Thursday.
Source: Radio-Canada
