They vowed to fight austerity and Friday they launched the first volley, with horns and red bootprints as a start.

Hundreds of members of the largest union of health and social service workers rallied in front of Premier Philippe Couillard’s Montreal offices with a simple message: expect a lot of resistance.

Blowing mini Vuvuzelas branded with the logo of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux, they were protesting the government’s Bill 10, which would overhaul Quebec’s health bureaucracy and, it's estimated, save $220 million a year.

“We know there’s little public opposition to (the austerity plan) now, but it’s coming,” said Jeff Begley, president of the Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux, which represents 130,000 health and social services workers.

“If we’re serious about explaining to the population the nefarious effects it will have on them, they will be against it.”

The union fears that the proposed elimination of health agencies, the merger of health and social service centres, and the merger of administrative boards will harm everything that is not specialized medicine or emergency services.

“Long-term care, youth services, and re-adaptation services will suffer,” Begley said.

Members also dipped rubber boots in red paint and left bootprints on the sidewalk with the message that wherever Couillard and Health Minister Gaétan Barrette go, they will follow.

Although speakers at the rally claimed that austerity measures will increase poverty, it was a coincidence that the protest was on the International Day for the Eradication of Poverty. Another group of community groups, however, used the event to denounce the proposed budget cuts.

Claiming that 1 in 10 Quebecers can’t meet basic needs, they organized grassroots gatherings across the province where poor families can talk about the reality of their lives.

“The government keeps saying it will protect the most vulnerable, but that’s not what happens,” said Serge Petitclerc, spokesperson for Collectif pour un Québec sans pauvreté, one of the groups involved. “The cuts are already hurting people,” he added, citing cuts to the Youth Alternative Program, which gives financial assistance and coaching for young people to enter the labour market.

The groups will continue campaigning against the austerity measures.

POVERTY BY THE NUMBERS

Percentage of people with low incomes (2011 figures)

14%— in Quebec

14.7% — in Montreal

12.6% — Canada average

Although poverty decreased for most people in Quebec between 1991 and 2011, it has increased for people living alone. These numbers represent the percentage of people with low incomes in different family units.

Single-parent families

1991 — 45.6%

2011 — 28.5%

Families of single mothers

1991 — 49.3%

2011 — 31.2%

Married couples without children

1991 — 12.4%

2011 — 7.6%

Two-parent families with children

1991 — 10.4%

2011 — 7.7%

Unattached people

1991 — 27.5%

2011 — 32.9%

Source: Statistics Canada, Persons in low income by economic family type, Table 202-0804

rrocha@montrealgazette.com

Twitter: robroc