(Quebec) The government’s new sectoral offer to teachers is a “show of smoke and mirrors” and constitutes a “setback in the talks”, denounces the Federation of Education Unions (FSE-CSQ). The Common Front, of which this union is a part, warns that it will “trigger an unlimited general strike at the beginning of 2024” in the absence of an agreement before the end of the year.
Tuesday afternoon, the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainvillle, nevertheless maintained that the government is “putting a lot of things on the table” with its new proposal which contains “really important improvements”.
However, the president of the FSE-CSQ, Josée Scalabrini, sees things quite differently. “Why all this spectacle today? I don’t understand. Unlike the weekend, we have big setbacks. All the government’s priorities, nothing significant on the composition of the class and the reduction of the task,” she declared in a video posted on Facebook Tuesday evening.
Disappointed? Yes. Discouraged ? No. We roll up our sleeves and leave because we still have time.
Josée Scalabrini, president of the FSE-CSQ
The Legault government has made a “major formal filing”, to use its expression, in the hope of reaching agreements with the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE) and the FSE-CSQ. He said he wanted to put an end to the FAE’s indefinite general strike that has been underway since November 23 and prevent the FSE-CSQ from following suit in January. The FSE-CSQ has held 11 days of walkout so far, like the other Common Front unions.
“We hope that these new offers will ultimately allow us to obtain an agreement, but we must first let the unions become aware of these offers,” said Bernard Drainville during a press scrum on the sidelines of ‘an ad in Bellechasse. He did not want to give details of the government’s proposal.
The Minister of Education said he was “confident” of settling with teachers before Christmas. “We hope that we will reach an agreement in the coming days, if not in the coming weeks. »
As for a possible change to the school calendar, Bernard Drainville recognizes that there will be “some catching up to do” for many students who, until now, have missed more than 20 days of school. “We have not yet made a final decision on the school calendar […] Everything is on the table. »
Tuesday morning, Quebec announced a postponement of the ministerial exams which were scheduled for January. These were mainly repeat exams which affected a minority of students. The date of their postponement has not been set.
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During a meeting of their respective bodies, the Common Front organizations (CSN, FTQ, CSQ and APTS) took stock of the negotiations. Talks with the government are progressing, but not at a satisfactory pace, we summarize.
“All our energies are being deployed to reach a settlement before the end of the year,” indicated the president of the CSQ, Éric Gingras. But in the absence of an agreement by then, the 1,500 delegates from the trade union organizations voted unanimously for the Common Front to “quickly” trigger the indefinite general strike “at the appropriate time at the start of 2024.”
They have chosen not to set a date for a January walkout now. Union leaders have free rein when the holidays return to trigger it “at the appropriate time” if there is no agreement with the government by then. They will hold a press conference Wednesday morning in Quebec.
“Although discussions at the central table continue to advance, the questions of wages, insurance, regional disparities and specialized workers are still not resolved,” writes the Common Front.
He says he is ready to sign five-year collective agreements, but he no longer quantifies his requests. They were initially around 23% in three years. “We did not quantify these requests, we rather indicated to the government that our opening was linked to two conditions, namely: that it guarantees the protection of purchasing power and that it leads to enrichment. This has not been quantified in order to leave room for negotiation at the table. »
Remember that Quebec has sent the signal that it will increase its last offer of salary increases by 12.7% in five years. And like The Press wrote, the Common Front recently demanded, for the same period, an indexation clause of 18.1% to cover the increase in the cost of living and an increase of 7% – instead of 9% – as of “enrichment”. He has questioned the 7% increase since then.
The Common Front reiterates that “to conclude an agreement at the central table, there must be progress” regarding insurance and specialized workers, “as well as regarding working conditions at the different sectoral tables.”
For its part, the Interprofessional Health Federation (FIQ) asked the Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, to appoint a conciliator “in view of the too slow progress in the discussions”. Mr. Boulet made the appointment quickly. Note that conciliators have been at work at other tables for a while.
According to the president of the FIQ, Julie Bouchard, “the government is focused on its positions and refuses to make compromises.” Despite more than 75 negotiation sessions, “there are still very important differences between us and the government,” she adds. “On fundamental issues, such as management of overtime, ratios and compensation for inconveniences, we are still very far apart. »
The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, commented on the appointment of a conciliator by saying that the government wants to “advance the discussions positively in order to facilitate reaching an agreement quickly.”
However, last week, Prime Minister François Legault said that talks are “very, very difficult” with health workers’ unions and that the prospect of an agreement is fading. “There is almost no openness to give us the flexibility that is absolutely necessary to improve health services. So, from that side, I think things will be better in January,” he said.
With the collaboration of Gabriel Béland, The Press