The indefinite general strike of the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE) is now over. The federation announced Thursday evening that it had an agreement in principle, causing relief and concern among teachers and parents.
Representatives of unions affiliated with the FAE had gathered since Thursday morning to examine the overall settlement proposal reached the day before with the government. They determined, in the evening, that the overall settlement proposal constitutes an agreement in principle.
This is what puts an end to the pressure tactics undertaken by the FAE since the start of negotiations, including the unlimited general strike launched on November 23.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
Melanie Hubert
The Federation took a new step today by qualifying this proposal as an agreement in principle and putting an end to a strike that lasted 22 days. However, the final step is to present it to the 66,500 members of the FAE, who have demonstrated exemplary courage and determination in recent weeks. It is up to teachers to respond to François Legault’s government and to say whether they feel they have been heard.
Mélanie Hubert, president of the FAE
This agreement will then be recommended to the members of the FAE, who will be called upon to ratify it during their general meetings upon returning from the holiday vacations. On social networks, several teachers expressed their desire to consult the agreement before the general assembly in January. This will not be the case. The FAE confirmed to The Press that they will only have it at the time of the assembly.
The Common Front, which includes the Federation of Education Unions (FSE-CSQ), also reached an agreement with the government on salaries on Thursday. The details of the agreement are not yet known, but a “trailer clause” is in effect, which allows a union to automatically benefit from more generous salary increases that would be negotiated by another union. “If ever [CSQ] will look for one or two additional elements, this will also apply to teachers of the [FAE] », summarizes the former union leader of the CSN Jacques Létourneau.
The FAE resumed negotiations with Quebec on Tuesday, after a 24-hour break. On December 21, FAE members unanimously voted for the proposal to enter into negotiation blitz, provided that union proposals can be discussed.
Relief and worry
“I am relieved, because it has been difficult on all levels. However, I must admit that my relief is mixed with concern, because the terms of the agreement are unknown. I hope that we have achieved great progress for the students, for the public school and for us,” he told The Press Maude, a mother and high school teacher at the Montreal School Service Center, which is part of the FAE.
Marie-Hélène Boileau, mother of three children, is “very happy” that there is an agreement and that young people can return to school. “Nevertheless, I hope that all this mobilization will pave the way for an ongoing dialogue on the fundamental importance of a healthy public school,” she said.
Valérie Cartier, also a mother of three children, is delighted with the end of the strike for her daughter in 4e secondary. “But as I am also a CPE educator, I understand their battle very well. I sincerely hope that his teachers will have had a good understanding, but I doubt that the governments really have the basis of a healthy society, education and health, at the heart of their priorities. »
For teacher Marie-Soleil D’Astous-Masse, it is still too early to rejoice. “Teachers are leading a historic strike. We have been on the street, without pay, for 25 days and counting. We were there, at the front, we sacrificed enormously. To learn this evening that the CFN [Conseil fédératif de négociation] of the FAE, after a single day of consultation, puts an end to the strike by accepting this agreement about which we know nothing, we cannot rejoice too quickly. We are afraid of having done this for nothing. We bet everything. And above all, nothing is done. Yes, we have confidence in our CFN, but we are cautious. »
The approximately 368,000 students in schools affiliated with the FAE missed 24 days of school, including two days of Common Front strikes, or more than 10% of the school year. Earlier in December, stakeholders fighting against school dropouts expressed concern about the repercussions of such a long strike for the most vulnerable students.