Prime Minister François Legault asked the teaching unions on Friday morning to “stop the strike” and recalled that he is ready to improve the salary offer, in exchange for “flexibility” on the part of the unions.
“What is happening now is bad for our children,” said the head of government in a press scrum at the National Assembly. “I call on the teachers’ unions to stop the strike for the sake of our children. »
Mr. Legault rejected the idea of imposing a special law. “We’re not there,” he said.
He reiterated that the government was ready to review its salary offer. “But we can’t hurt our children. “It’s the most precious thing we have,” he insisted. “I am ready to do anything — there is nothing more important than our children — so we must stop this strike, it will harm the success of our children. »
The Prime Minister recalled that his government is proposing to add classroom aids to give teachers a helping hand. The latter are calling, “rightly” according to Mr. Legault, to reduce class sizes. However, this is impossible in a context of labor shortage, he argued.
“There has already been the pandemic, so we have to stop that. Please, I ask all teachers unions to stop the strike,” he repeated.
No wall-to-wall bonuses
On the subject of nurses, the Prime Minister said requiring bonuses for all workers was a bad management decision. “The union tells us: if you give [des primes], we must give them wall to wall, even in places where we do not have recruitment problems. That doesn’t make any sense! We must return to the ABC of good management,” he argued.
Students whose teachers are affiliated with the FAE have been on forced leave since November 21. The Common Front, which includes school support employees (daycare educators, secretary, etc.), walked off the job from November 21 to 23, which led to the closure of schools.
The FAE, for its part, launched an indefinite general strike on November 23. Its 66,500 members teach in primary and secondary schools in various regions: Montreal, Laval, Montérégie, Basses-Laurentides, Estrie, Outaouais and Quebec. The FAE did not call on a conciliator, unlike the Common Front unions (CSN, CSQ, FTQ and APTS).
For their part, the 80,000 members of the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ) will strike from December 11 to 14.