Full name Quebec House of Labour Members 175,000 | Founded 1946 Office location Montreal, Québec | |
Native name Centrale des syndicats du Québec Key people Réjean Parent, president | ||
The Centrale des syndicats du Québec (Quebec House of Labour), or CSQ, is the third most important trade union in Quebec, Canada, according to membership.
It was founded in 1946 as the result of the merger of three previous federations as the Corporation générale des instituteurs et institutrices catholiques de la province de Québec (CIC; General Corporation of Catholic Teachers in the Province of Quebec). Léo Guindon was its first president.
It changed its name in 1967 to Corporation des enseignants du Québec (Teachers Corporation of Quebec), and then again in 1974 when it officially became a labour union to Centrale des enseignants du Québec (CEQ; Quebec Teachers' House of Labour). It finally became the Centrale des syndicats du Québec in 2000 to acknowledge the fact that its membership base had expanded beyond teaching professions.
Still, of almost 175,000 members, over 100,000 are workers in the field of education, most working in the public sector. 69% of its members are women. Accordingly, the CEQ was the first Quebec trade union to appoint a woman (Lorraine Pagé) as its president, in 1988.
Louise Chabot has been president since 2012., Marc Nantel, Line Camerlain and Pierre Jobin are the 1st, 2nd and 3rd vice-presidents, respectively. Daniel B. Lafrenière is the secretary-treasurer.
Currently, the Centrale des syndicats du Québec acts as a liaison for the J. W. McConnell Family Foundation.
The Centrale des syndicats du Québec is a member of Education International and Public Services International.