Between June 3 and June 22, 2024, 211,405 workers in the Québec construction industry are being called on to vote to choose their union allegiance, which will come into effect on September 1.
The process and rules for the union vote are governed by the Act Respecting Labour Relations, Vocational Training and Workforce Management in the Construction Industry (Act R-20) and the Regulation Respecting the Election of a Representative Association by Employees of the Construction Industry. The Commission de la construction du Québec (CCQ) is responsible for ensuring that the vote runs smoothly.
An exercise that determines union representativeness
To perform work subject to Act R-20, workers must join one of the five union associations recognized under this law when they join the industry. During each vote, they can choose to change their union allegiance.
The vote also determines union representativeness for the subsequent negotiation of the industry’s collective agreements. The votes that are accrued to establish this representativeness must come from holders of a competency certificate who have worked 300 or more hours during the period defined by the law: from February 26, 2023, to February 24, 2024. For the 2024 vote, 143 306 voters fulfil these criteria.
Workers who do not exercise their right to vote will have their existing union allegiance automatically renewed for the new period. This is called “presumption of allegiance.”
The steps following the voting period
Following the voting period, the CCQ will count the votes and send out notices confirming allegiance choice, whether the right to vote has been exercised or not. It is possible to contest the union allegiance given on the notice received within 30 days following the end of the vote count.
The official results that will determine the representativeness of each of the five union associations will be known in August.
Marcel Blanchet is the chief returning officer
The CCQ’s board of directors has appointed Marcel Blanchet to be chief returning officer for the 2024 union vote. Blanchet is acting in this capacity for the fourth time, having been the chief returning officer for the union election in 2012, 2016, and 2020.
A lawyer by training, Blanchet was the chief electoral officer of Québec from 2000 to 2010. In this position, he administered three general elections and more than 30 by-elections.
Blanchet’s experience, integrity, and general probity make him, once again, the best candidate to independently administer the 2024 union election.
Visit www.ccq.org/unionvote for all the details on the union vote. The page includes an explanatory video summarizing the steps to take to vote and the mistakes to avoid so that a ballot won’t be rejected during the vote count.