Quebec government engineers strike could delay Turcot Interchange work

Residents in the Southwest borough living near the Turcot Interchange work site could be living with construction for longer than expected due to the two-week-old strike by Quebec government engineers.

A leaked internal document from TransportsQubec obtained by Radio-Canada shows that if the province-wide strike exceeds two weeks, than it could delay the next phase of the project, which is set to begin this fall.

That work, which includes the dismantling of Highway 720 West, may have to be pushed back to spring 2018.

• Quebec public engineers strike paralyzes 250 worksites across province

However, TransportsQubecspokesperson Sarah Bensadoun said that conditions have changed since the document was written on April 24, a month before government engineers walked off the job.

"At this point in time, I'm not able to confirm whether or not we will be able to go ahead with this type of work,"said Bensadoun.

"If not, then yes, the next phase will have to be done during spring 2018 so we're talking a six-month delay."

The construction blitz is part of the overhaul of the Turcot Interchange, which isbeing dismantled to make way for a new one and is supposedto be completed by the fall of 2020.

Southwest borough Mayor Benoit Dorais called the possible delay "extremely worrying," adding that the province and engineers need to come to an agreement soon.

"We've already lived through theeffects of the Turcot for the last several years," said Dorais. "The people here are fed up of living with dust, living with noise and living with heavy trucks that move through the streets."

While Bensadoun said theTurcot work site is still operational, the financial impact is already steep for sites that are affected by the strike.

"Right now we're estimating an impact of $230 million for the 250 projects that we were working on, but we still have 70 construction sites that are in operation," she said.

Engineers seek wage parity

The 1,400 government engineers abouthalf of whom work for the Transport Ministryhavebeen on strike since May 24, and unlike the province's construction workers, they were not subject to back-to-work legislation passed last week.

Their union lists, among other concerns, the government's inability to attract and keepexperienced engineers, in spite of the Charbonneau commission's recommendation that itmust re-establishinternal engineering expertisein order to fight collusion and corruption.

The unionis asking for a 20 per cent salary increase, something union president Marc-Andr Martinsays is comparable to wages in similar sectors.

"The minimumsalary for government engineers is$74,000. A Hydro-Qubec technician makes $82,000," he said.