Hydro-Québec must release designated union workers from their regular duties where needed to coordinate essential-service staffing during an overtime strike, Quebec’s labour tribunal has ordered.
In Syndicat des employé-es de métiers d’Hydro-Québec, section locale 1500 SCFP (F.T.Q.) et Hydro-Québec, dossier 1502512-71-2610, the Tribunal administratif du travail issued an immediate oral order on October 25, 2026, followed by written reasons on October 28. Administrative judge Geneviève Drapeau found that refusing the releases prevented the union from carrying out staffing commitments the tribunal had required it to make.
The ruling concerns the overtime strike scheduled from October 23 to November 2. It is not a finding that Hydro-Québec unlawfully interfered with union activities: the tribunal expressly left those allegations undecided.
Responsibility for essential-service recalls
The trades union had notified the tribunal of its planned overtime strike on October 13 and supplied a proposed essential-services list. On October 22, the tribunal found the list insufficient and recommended changes to protect public health and safety. The union accepted them that day.
One disagreement was who should identify and supply the workers needed in Hydro-Québec’s distribution operations. The union wanted the employer to handle overtime recalls; Hydro-Québec said that was the union’s responsibility. The approved arrangement required the union to provide qualified personnel on request and as needed across the employer’s business units.
On October 25, the union sought urgent relief because Hydro-Québec was refusing to release some designated workers to coordinate recalls and distribute overtime offers. One worker’s on-call assignment was due to begin at 9 p.m. that day. The tribunal heard the parties by videoconference and made its order immediately.
Regular duties conflicted with overnight coordination
Hydro-Québec argued that the requests were late, insufficiently justified and inconsistent with operational needs. It pointed to work-planning backlogs of about four weeks in Laval and six weeks in Val-d’Or, and disputed that a general directive had been issued to refuse releases.
The tribunal found that an on-call coordinator could receive 15 to 20 calls in an evening or overnight while arranging recalls and crew availability. The resulting sleep disruption could make returning to regular duties the next day dangerous. The evidence also showed that regular work and continuous recall coordination could not reasonably be performed simultaneously.
The union had unsuccessfully tried to find replacements. Two of the three release requests had initially been approved by a first-level manager before being refused. The requested releases were at the union’s expense.
Work-planning delays and management disruption did not justify refusals that blocked the union from meeting its essential-services commitments, the tribunal concluded. Hydro-Québec could not refuse responsibility for recalls while also preventing the union from carrying out that responsibility.
A limited order, not a ruling on interference
The order requires releases only to the extent necessary to maintain essential services during the specified overtime strike. It took effect immediately and was to remain applicable until the strike’s scheduled end at 11:59 p.m. on November 2, subject to any further tribunal order.
Hydro-Québec also objected that it had received the union-interference complaint during the hearing, without advance notice or a fair opportunity to present evidence and argument. The tribunal did not decide that complaint. It considered the essential-services remedy sufficient to address the immediate problem and said the interference issue could be examined later if the union maintained it.
The decision therefore enforces a particular essential-services arrangement; it does not establish a general entitlement to release from work for all union activities.
