After a first week of assemblies of union members of the Common Front, the union members who spoke out endorsed the agreement in principle concluded with the government of Quebec.
But we are only one week out of five in this vast consultation of 420,000 workers in health and education, at the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), at the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), at the Fédération of Workers of Quebec (FTQ) and the Alliance of Professional and Technical Personnel in Health and Social Services (APTS).
In addition, the intersectoral agreement, that is, that on salary increases, obtains more marked support than the sectoral agreement, which deals with working conditions, at least among the unions which hold two separate votes on this subject.
In health
In health, support continues for the APTS.
At the CISSS de l’Abitibi-Témiscamingue, where 1,700 members work, support reaches 82%. In the Laurentians, a union of 4,300 members provided 77% support. At the CHU de Québec-Université Laval, a union of 2,000 members, support reached 78%. However, support is less for the APTS union in Lanaudière, which has 3,400 members: 67%.
At the FTQ, in health, the Quebec Union of Service Employees (SQEES) reported only two votes on Friday showing support in the 70% range; the others are above 80%.
We are still awaiting the votes of the Federation of Health and Social Services (FSSS), affiliated with the CSN, and the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), affiliated with the FTQ.
The Health Federation (FSQ), affiliated with the CSQ, has indicated that it will not submit the sectoral agreement to a vote by its members, because it is dissatisfied with it. The delegates who are members of its federal council rejected it by 98%. However, it only has 5,000 members; These are nurses.
Moreover, the Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ), which is not part of the Common Front, and which represents more than 90% of nurses, has still not concluded an agreement with Quebec – a sign that the file of nurses remains unresolved.
In education
In the education sector, for the Common Front, five of the 33 unions of the Federation of Education Unions (FSE-CSQ) have voted to date. These are primary and secondary teachers, like the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE, excluding Common Front), where agreement is on a tightrope.
At the FSE-CSQ, four of the five unions that voted approved both the intersectoral agreement and the sectoral agreement: that of Estrie, at 50.5% for the sectoral, 88% for the intersectoral; that of Chaudière, at 86% for the sectoral, 90% for the intersectoral; and that of Vaudreuil, at 64% for the sectoral, 87% for the intersectoral. The last in line is Bois-Francs, where 72% of members voted in favor of the sectoral agreement and 87% in favor of the intersectoral agreement.
Despite this favorable vote, members said they were disappointed during the meeting, Nancie Lafond, president of the Bois-Francs union, reported in an interview.
“What stood out was the palpable disappointment in the face of the government’s stubbornness in not listening to the teachers’ cry from the heart about the composition of the class,” she stressed.
“It was the heart of the negotiation” for the teachers, she recalls. “It’s deplorable, it’s a shame that progress is very slim” in this regard, she adds.
So far, only one FSE-CSQ union, in Lanaudière, voted against the sectoral agreement, at 62%, but it voted for the intersectoral agreement, at 93%.
The other CSQ unions in the education sector also largely approved the agreements.
The CSQ reports votes of 85%, 95% and 96% among college support employees.
Among college teachers, the CSQ reports five votes in favor of the sectoral agreement, with an average of 78%, and five votes in favor of the intersectoral agreement, with an average of 86%.
Among school support employees, the CSQ reports four positive votes and one negative.
On the FAE side, the week ends with three votes held on its nine unions. One union voted against, Laval, while two voted for, Montreal and Pointe-de-l’île, but in proportions of 52% and 58.5% respectively.