An important meeting between government negotiators and union representatives of the Quebec Bar Association (LANEQ) is set for Saturday in Montreal.
On strike since Oct. 24, the lawyers intend to submit a counter-proposal to an offer filed Thursday night by the Treasury Board.
Quebec said their offer was final, but the office of Treasury Board president Pierre Moreau said Friday night the parties would sit down again Saturday.
If there is no agreement, the government could enact a special law to force union members to return to work, but Moreau did not discuss that possibility Friday.
Premier Philippe Couillard urged the lawyers to accept the monetary offer, which he said is “close or identical in dollar terms to what Crown prosecutors get.”
But the union maintains that the proposal is “far from being equivalent to that of the Crown prosecutors.”
In the meantime, the strike fund that covers 1,100 lawyers and notaries employed by various levels of Quebec government is exhausted.
