Readers’ place | A strike in childcare centers which adds to the pandemic

Phew! Having two children in a childcare center in a pandemic is already a way of the cross. As soon as you have a cough or a fever, the two children must be excluded while waiting for a negative COVID-19 test result. And now, the unlimited strike! Does the government fully realize the burden of these negotiations on parents of young children?

My husband and I will take turns looking after our three and a half year old son. We don’t have a plan B since our family lives in France. If it’s time for a few days, we’ll stick together, but if it lasts several weeks, I will have the feeling of reliving the first confinement and that distresses me a lot. I support educators, but I risk getting upset if the situation does not resolve itself quickly.

I never understood the means of pressure that is the strike. It attacks people who have nothing to do with the conflict. I have two children, 1 year old and 2 and a half years old, and our families live more than three hours from home. This strike therefore implies that I take days at my expense. For my partner, this means that he has to work until the night to make up for the hours he misses.

We managed for the other days of the strike, but this is complicated. The banks of hours are empty, we must dip into our vacation next summer to hold on. The grandparents came to help us last week, but they left with a cold, courtesy of the children. At 70, it’s not fun for them, especially with COVID-19 and the new variant. This indefinite general strike seems to me to be completely disproportionate as a means of pressure.

I am writing to you on behalf of my son and his girlfriend because they don’t have time to write this kind of letter. They are both telecommuting and they are burnt. They are obliged to look after their 3 year old toddler while working. They hear “moms” every 30 seconds. I am 74 years old and I help as much as I can. But since there have been positive cases at the daycare, my son does not want to take the risk of infecting me.

We love them, we adore them, but… we are a little tired. From time to time, we have fun, we play, but we no longer have the energy of our youth. Children need their friends and the social and educational environment that childcare centers offer them. What are the unions thinking about? For the sake of the children? The government has been most generous and the unions remain dissatisfied.

I am exasperated, retired for two years and a grandmother of two 2-year-old girls who attend childcare centers. I am taken hostage in this conflict. After having lived through a pandemic to support my two new parents, here is the CPE strike. I find the staff admirable and I do not question their struggle to be recognized. But, is it necessary to add to the burden of parents and grandparents? It must stop, I have my arms full.

We fully support the pressure tactics of educators. The government says it cannot afford to increase the salaries of support staff. In good French, it’s bullshit. Quebec has just announced a plan to counter the labor shortage, estimated at 3.9 billion dollars. Legault also wants to build the famous third link between Lévis and Quebec, regardless of the cost and the consequences on the environment. However, he refuses to pay their fair value for educators and support staff in childcare centers.

Totally agree with this strike. Early childhood educators must be recognized as education professionals. They are essential for parents to be able to work. Early childhood education is as important as university.