Even without income, teachers intend to “fight to the end”

(Montreal and Quebec) Regardless if they have to make arrangements with their bank to pay their mortgage, Montreal teachers say they are ready to fight “to the end” for better working conditions. A situation that they nevertheless consider “stressful”, while in Quebec, the opposition is pressing Sonia LeBel to hold a blitz of negotiations.

From the moment they launch the indefinite general strike, Montreal teachers, like all those affiliated with the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE), will no longer be paid.

Whether they are in Montreal, Laval or Quebec, these 65,000 union members have no strike fund. For what ? The Teachers’ Alliance – like the other member unions of the FAE – represents a single employment body, explains the president of this union.

“If we have a strike fund, it doesn’t last very long, because while we are on strike, no one continues to contribute while working,” says Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre.

She does not see this dry fund as a weakness in the negotiations against Quebec.

” On the contrary. This is not a hiding place and our members voted 98% knowing that there was no strike fund. An indefinite general strike has no fixed end. It reflects the state of mind in which the members are: we are going to fight until the end,” assures Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre.

“We are aware that it is not easy to deprive yourself of salary,” she adds.

At 36, Guillaume Bellavance considers the situation “stressful”. This high school history teacher fears finding himself in financial insecurity.

“No one wants to take a loan from the banks to survive, but everyone is on the same wavelength: if we don’t do it today, we’ll pay for it later,” he told about the upcoming indefinite strike.

Teacher in 4^e year, Jehanne Blaise believes that this strike is a “last resort” to save the work of teachers. In current conditions, “it’s like showing us the door to resign,” she adds.

Parents, she believes, have understood the issues and support the teachers.

The opposition urges the government to negotiate

Since the beginning of the week, several school service centers have informed parents that schools will be closed as of November 21 “for an indefinite period.” The specter of a prolonged school closure like that experienced during the pandemic makes many fear the worst, who must reorganize their schedule accordingly.

In Quebec, opposition parties are urging the Legault government to begin intensive negotiations with the unions.

“It is not normal that all the unions say that they can negotiate seven days a week and that Sonia LeBel is absent,” alarms Marwah Rizqy of the Liberal Party.

“Today, all resources are running out. For real. It’s not just the teachers. […] We have a bad social problem,” she adds.

The president of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, replies that she and her teams “do not refuse any meeting”. She again demands a counter-offer at the negotiating tables.

“Initiating strikes is up to the unions. […] Now, discussions must continue at the tables and the unions must come back to us with a formal counter-offer in hand. A negotiation cannot be a one-way street,” she told The Press.

The announcement made Tuesday by Finance Minister Eric Girard, who grants 5 to 7 million for the visit to Quebec of a team from the National Hockey League (NHL), the Los Angeles Kings, does not go unnoticed.

“If the government decides to pay for hockey, for a billionaire league, it is capable of untying the purse strings and negotiating in good faith,” says Ruba Ghazal of Québec solidaire.

Just like M^me Rizqy and the PQ critic on education, Pascal Bérubé, M^me Ghazal believes that a strike could prove inevitable if the government insists on “impoverishing” its workers by offering insufficient wage increases.

“A few days of strike is less upsetting than the fact that parents are having trouble obtaining services for their children,” she said.

On the subject of salary offers, the government replies that its “overall offer of 14.8%, which represents 8 billion from taxpayers, is serious and in line with projected inflation”.

“It seems inevitable that there will be a strike. Over time, we don’t know. So much the better if it’s a few days, but the battle that teachers are waging is for young people and for the long term. This battle is legitimate,” assures Pascal Bérubé of the Parti Québécois.

The Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, was not available for interview on Wednesday. His office, however, communicated to us by email that it is “aware of the impact and inconvenience caused on children and their parents”.

“We are doing everything in our power to avoid it by making serious proposals. However, we are still waiting for the union counter-offer in due form,” he said.