(Montreal) Several childcare centers will be affected by two or three days of strike action, as the case may be, during the coming week.
The workers who are members of unions of the Federation of Early Childhood Workers (FIPEQ), affiliated to the CSQ, will kick off Monday and Friday.
Those who are members of unions from the Federation of Health and Social Services (FSSS), affiliated to the CSN, will disengage Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday.
In the case of the FIPEQ, this will be the second and third days of strike action of a mandate that includes six.
In the case of the FSSS, this will be the fourth, fifth and sixth days of a mandate that includes 10.
After having had several days of negotiations each, the two unions want to increase the pressure on the government in order to renew their collective agreements. The agreements expired on March 31, 2020.
In dispute
The dispute mainly concerns the remuneration, not only of the educators, but also of the other workers who support them in the early childhood centers, such as the specialized educators, the employees in the kitchen, the administration and the maintenance.
The question of the length of the working week is also problematic. Many currently have a 32- to 36-hour week spread over four days. Quebec wants to encourage them to adopt the 40-hour week, since it lacks educators.
To achieve this, he offers a bonus of $ 50 per week for those who work 40 hours. But this is a bonus; it is therefore not integrated into the salary scale as an increase which would be in percentage – which displeases the unions.
The President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, affirms that with her latest offer, salary increases “can reach more than 20% for educators and more than 9% for other employees.”
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, ARCHIVES THE CANADIAN PRESS
The President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel
The president of the Federation of Early Childhood Workers of the CSQ, Valérie Grenon, affirms that with her last counter-proposal, a qualified educator and a specialized educator – both holding a Diploma of Collegial Studies – would receive $ 22.85 at the first step and up to $ 30.29 at the last step.
Negotiations are not broken between the parties, however.