The Autonomous Education Federation (FAE) changes its tone: after declaring on Monday that nothing was moving forward at the negotiating table, the teaching union now welcomes “the progress made over the last few hours”.
In a message published on social networks, the FAE writes that the “discussions at the table today were productive”.
“However, we remain cautious: we will judge the tree by its fruits,” we add, specifying that the negotiation meeting continues Monday evening.
Earlier Monday, the office of Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel announced that “important discussions have taken place with the FAE in recent days.”
“We now have on the table the essential elements to get along. Despite certain gaps, we are entering a crucial phase which will allow us to glimpse an agreement that could benefit students and teachers,” we added.
Monday morning, the FAE summoned the media. The union president then urged Quebec to “take the negotiations seriously”. Called upon to assess the progress of the negotiations, Mélanie Hubert declared that less than half the way had been done so far. The union judged that the last weekend of negotiations had been “difficult and disappointing”.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, THE PRESS
Melanie Hubert
The 66,500 FAE teachers have been on an indefinite general strike since November 23. A large march is planned for Tuesday in downtown Montreal. The demonstrators must go to the office of the Prime Minister, François Legault.