After the long and difficult negotiation in the public sector, another arduous, and possibly conflictual, negotiation is expected with 13,000 workers in home daycare services and in CPEs.
The parents are perhaps not at the end of their troubles, because even if it is too early to talk about a strike, the president of the FIPEQ, Valérie Grenon, admits in an interview that “we have it in mind, because that we try to make things happen, to put pressure on other than through a strike, but we are not capable of making anything happen.”
Members of the Federation of Early Childhood Workers (FIPEQ) are demonstrating this Thursday morning in Quebec, hoping to increase pressure on the government to really start its negotiations, after months of waiting.
“We are starting our pressure tactics. We started to move the members at the base. We will welcome the parliamentarians to have dates for negotiation, reports Mme Grenon.
FIPEQ submitted its requests last September and, since then, has affirmed that it has received “no, none, no deposit” from the Government of Quebec, neither in terms of salaries nor in terms of standards.
“We are negotiating, but we have no one in front of us; They occupy the table,” exclaims M.me Grenon, speaking of government negotiators.
However, the collective agreements expired on March 31, 2023, at the same time as those in the public sector.
She assumes that Quebec wanted to settle first with the inter-union common front and the FAE, before moving on to workers in childcare services, but believes that Quebec could still have discussed the normative clauses with the FIPEQ at the same time.
His requests
In terms of salaries, last September the FIPEQ formulated the same initial demands as the common front of the public sector, namely increases linked to the consumer price index (CPI) plus a certain percentage of salary increase each year. .
Above all, the CSQ federation is calling for more support to accommodate children with special needs in daycare services. She also makes other requests for leave and vacation.
As workers in family daycare services are not paid by the hour, but receive a subsidy from the Ministry of Families to provide this service, FIPEQ is calling for an increase in the subsidy for them which takes into account the increase in the basket groceries.
“We can’t wait another year or two. There is a labor shortage in the network at the moment. The Minister of Families (Suzanne Roy) announces places and places for families in Quebec. But if we don’t have speakers and if we don’t have good working conditions, well, these places will never open,” concluded Ms.me Grenon.