In the last two years, there has been a lot of action in terms of re-establishing discussions with the unions because there had been some reluctance on their part to continue discussions, and challenges to the legislation had been filed. A lot of work was done to indicate to the unions that the government proposed to repeal the provisions that had been put into effect. During the wait for those bills to be passed, Minister Brison indicated to them, both verbally and in writing, that he would be flexible during the negotiation cycles.
As for sick leave, the Minister made a commitment not to use the authority provided in the legislation. He said that he would go further, that he was going to recommend legislative provisions to repeal the measures that had been established. During the negotiations with the unions, the issues of short-term and long-term sick leave was discussed and agreed upon, so that those provisions continue to apply after the negotiation cycles.