This text is part of the special Syndicalism booklet
After several months of negotiations, the National Federation of Teachers of Quebec signed the CEGEP collective agreement on 1er last March. Although several gains have been obtained, the FNEEQ is continuing its work until the next negotiations.
The negotiations, started before the pandemic by the National Federation of Quebec Teachers (FNEEQ-CSN), which represents approximately 16,000 CEGEP teachers, focused on the 2020-2023 collective agreement. Several gains have been made, including the inclusion of an appendix on freedom of education to the collective agreement, to protect the right of teachers to express themselves on their establishment, the education system or the government, for example. But already, eyes are on the next negotiation, which will begin in less than a year.
More parity
“Among our negotiation objectives, we wanted to improve the lot of lecturers in continuing education. We still succeeded, ”says Yves de Repentigny, vice-president of the FNEEQ and responsible for the CEGEP group. These are indeed the poor relations of the profession, he adds.
Lecturers in continuing education, even if their tasks are the same as other professors, thus earned on average 50% of the salary of regular professors, with equal education and experience, in addition to having to do several tasks for free. The last negotiations have allowed a catch-up from the salary point of view, “but not everything is settled”, nuance Mr. de Repentigny. An inter-round committee under the aegis of the Treasury Board has also been set up to move the file forward while awaiting the next negotiations.
Less precariousness
Nearly 40% of teachers in the CEGEP network have a precarious status. To improve working conditions and access to positions, the FNEEQ obtained positions to be opened for complementary and multidisciplinary courses. “Some courses, such as those in methodology, can be given by several disciplines. In several CEGEPs, these courses do not give access to a position,” explains Mr. de Repentigny. This gain for the entire network will make it possible to open new permanent positions.
Another important gain is the inclusion of a withdrawal procedure in the collective agreement. In regions where there are several CEGEPs, some lecturers are forced to accept assignments in several places; but if they reconsider their engagement (for example because another cégep offers them full time for a semester), they were then considered to have resigned. “There, there are possibilities of withdrawal, and it becomes a network modality”, underlines Mr. de Repentigny.
More resources
Another important gain remains the inclusion of resources to support and supervise students with disabilities, whose number has exploded over the past dozen years. “There were resources in the colleges, but it wasn’t in the collective agreement. We wanted these resources to allow the creation of permanent student supervision positions, because the number of students with disabilities will not decrease,” says Mr. de Repentigny.
Resources have also been allocated for the coordination of programs, in particular for nursing and health care internships, which are increasingly cumbersome to coordinate. “But there again, it is insufficient, it will be to follow in the next negotiation”, notes the vice-president.
The consequences of the pandemic
Another inter-round committee has been set up to look into distance education, a subject that will be at the heart of the upcoming negotiations. “The pandemic has thrown us into distance education, often with the means at hand. We are not against it, but we have to define the working conditions,” notes the head of the FNEEQ CEGEP group. Distance learning offers a real solution to promote accessibility for students who cannot travel (distance, disability, etc.), but poses many difficulties. For example, if the number of students in class is limited, you must also think about doing so for online courses, because it is impossible to supervise and manage an infinite number of students.
Galloping inflation will also color the upcoming negotiations. Elementary and secondary teachers have managed to improve their compensation structures, “but if we do nothing about the salary scale for CEGEP teachers, some elementary and secondary teachers will be better paid,” said Mr. of Repentigny. All teachers should be paid at least as much. “We too are starting to have a problem attracting and retaining workers,” he warns.