(Quebec) Better pay, leave and more resources to support children with special needs, early childhood workers presented their union demands on Thursday with a view to renewing their employment contracts.
The president of the Federation of Early Childhood Workers of Quebec (FIPEQ-CSQ), Valérie Grenon, was accompanied for the occasion by Anne-Marie Bellerose (early childhood centers) and Sylvi Boisclair (regulated and subsidized family environments) .
The agreements for both sectors expired at the same time, on March 31, and the FIPEQ-CSQ claims to have rallied all the stakeholders so that they can lead a joint negotiation.
The union explained that early childhood workers who work both in family settings and in daycare centers face the same challenges: work overload, exhaustion and decline in purchasing power.
“Our members are very mobilized,” declared M.me Grenon at a press conference. We saw it with the last negotiation, it was unprecedented how they stood up to improve their working conditions. »
Faced with the inflationary surge, early childhood workers in CPE are demanding a salary adjusted to the consumer price index (CPI), in addition to a salary increase and the withdrawal of the first level to ensure an entry level salary. higher.
More specifically, they want to get $100 more per week starting this year, the CPI plus 3% starting on 1er April 2024 and the CPI plus 4% from April 1er April 2025.
For their part, daycare workers are demanding a subsidy increased in line with inflation. They point out that since 2020, the cost of the grocery basket has jumped by 13.9%. In 2023, food inflation is forecast between 9.9% and 11.3%.
Both sectors are also asking for more leave: additional vacation days in CPE, and paid social leave during difficult times, such as bereavements in a family environment.
Finally, the workers want more resources for children with special needs. They are demanding, in CPE, the hiring of specialized staff, and in the family environment, a subsidy so that each child is supported “meet their needs”.
Valérie Grenon allows herself to be optimistic: for the moment, the government is “answering the call,” she said.
“In our two sectors, we were able to submit our union demands and we have already received feedback from them to have negotiating dates in the coming days,” she declared.
“We are happy, for the moment, we feel that the government is ready to come and work with us to find solutions, but we do not yet have their offer, so we do not know if they will dance the same dance than us to improve the network,” she added.