After a day dictated by uncertainty as to the means of pressure to be adopted for the continuation of the negotiations, the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE) announced, Friday evening, that it will continue the unlimited general strike (GGI) that she has been leading for over a week.
“We are now able to confirm that we had to analyze a proposal submitted by the government,” said the president of the FAE, Mélanie Hubert. It is an interesting proposal, which proposed progress and which deserved attention, but the council [fédératif de négociation] did not consider this satisfactory for the lifting of the strike, which will continue on Monday. »
For almost two days, the FAE member unions discussed the procedure to follow for the continuation of the negotiations with Quebec.
“The time spent over the past two days has been devoted to working on the text of a counter-offer which will be presented as quickly as possible,” said Mr.me Hubert. The union president recognized that the government had taken a step in the direction of teachers with its most recent proposal, tabled last Tuesday evening. “We are going to take a step towards them in return,” she added. Our counter-offer will not be one-sided, it aims for a settlement. »
The FAE wants a rapid settlement
Among the elements which explain why the negotiations are failing: the desire of the FAE to allow its members to telework during personal working hours. “It’s one of the elements that is missing,” admitted M.me Hubert. And it’s something that costs nothing. »
In addition, the FAE wants the composition of the ordinary class to be reviewed, which, it argues, “has crossed a threshold of difficulty such that it constitutes a constraint on teaching”.
Mme Hubert hopes negotiations will continue over the weekend and wants a quick settlement.
PHOTO DOMINICK GRAVEL, THE PRESS
The president of the FAE, Mélanie Hubert, at a press conference, Friday
The goal was never to stay on strike for long. The strike aimed to unblock 11 months of negotiations which were making no progress and 70 meetings which produced nothing.
Mélanie Hubert, president of the FAE
She also estimated that the members of the FAE would now have their “eyes fixed” on Sonia LeBel, president of the Treasury Board.
The latter reacted Friday evening to the Federation’s announcement: “We are aware of the impacts of the strike for the students and obviously disappointed, but we are committed to signing agreements for the benefit of students and staff, so we will continue our efforts to get there as quickly as possible,” she wrote. The minister’s office added that negotiations would continue continuously to reach an agreement.
The FAE had other options to suspend the strike or to request the intervention of a conciliator. The decision to maintain the GGI affects hundreds of thousands of young people spread across 800 schools in the province.
Legault accused of “emotional blackmail”
On Friday, Prime Minister François Legault asked the FAE to stop the strike because “we cannot hurt our children” and once again said he was ready to improve the salary offer.
This is “emotional blackmail” on the part of the Prime Minister, the FAE wrote on social networks. “What hurts public schools is the deterioration of the system which has been exacerbated since you were in power,” we also add.
The president of the Alliance of Professors of Montreal, which has approximately 9,500 members, sent a written statement to The Pressdescribing the Prime Minister’s statements as “contempt for teachers who stand up for quality teaching conditions for Quebec students.”
“We will return to class with our students when the government commits to applying a remedy to the ills of public schools,” declared Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre.
On the picket lines this week, teachers met by The Press seemed determined to hold the fort for a long time. Even those who said they were “less unionists” affirmed that they had taken to the streets to provide better learning conditions for their students.
The unions affiliated with the FAE have adopted unlimited general strike mandates with votes in favor ranging from 84% to 98%, the latter percentage having been obtained by the Alliance of Professors of Montreal.
These teachers are distributed in 12 school service centers in the province. They are in Montreal, Laval, Quebec, but also in Estrie, in the Laurentians, in Outaouais and in Montérégie.
With the collaboration of Hugo Pilon-Larose, The Press
Classroom aids will not be enough
Classroom aides, members of support staff working in schools, have the stated objective of lightening the workload weighing on teachers. However, in the opinion of the president of the FAE, this solution alone will not be enough to alleviate the problem facing public schools. “It’s part of the solution, and classroom help could provide support, but it will probably not be enough,” said Mélanie Hubert. These include, among others, daycare service staff and special education technicians. These resources are assigned to a teacher or group of teachers.