The indefinite general strike was called in 400 early childhood centers (CPEs) in Quebec. More than 43,000 children will have to be looked after by grandparents, neighbors or teleworking parents as long as Quebec and the union members do not reach an agreement.
“Since the strike announcement last week, negotiations have unfortunately made little progress,” said Stéphanie Vachon, representative of the CPE sector at the Federation of Health and Social Services (FSSS-CSN), in a press release. broadcast at the end of the day of negotiations, Tuesday.
The government has already granted significant salary increases to educators, but the FSSS-CSN wants the increases to also be offered to cooks, as well as to maintenance and office staff (see capsule).
In the field, the staff of the childcare centers prepared the parents for the walkout to last for several days. “As we do not know how long we will be on strike, do not forget to take all the clothes and accessories of your children,” said a poster in the door of a daycare center in West Montreal.
Julie Gauvin, who has a 2-year-old boy in a childcare center, says she supports the demands of the workers, but she deplores that the strike is used as a means of pressure.
Managing strike days is a huge stress on our shoulders as parents. We are fortunate that the grandparents are retired and can save us from burning all our sick days.
Julie Gauvin, mother of a 2 year old boy
Cathy Martin managed to organize her schedule when the strike lasted one or two days a week. She feels less solidarity with childcare workers since she knows that her daily life will be turned upside down for an indefinite period.
The mother of a 3-year-old boy has found no other solution than to bring her son to his workplace. “I’m going to work while he is playing cars, drawing pictures, coloring. But I will not be there 100% because I will be 50% mom and 50% employee ”, she laments.
Quebec wants a negotiated agreement
The FSSS-CSN hopes that negotiations will continue without interruption during the strike. “The goal is to come to a satisfactory agreement for everyone as quickly as possible so that the strike is lifted and the parents and children find their educators and their childcare centers”, affirms Lucie Longchamps, vice-president responsible for private sectors at the FSSS-CSN.
In Quebec, the president of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, hammered on Tuesday that she did not intend to use a special law to settle the conflict. “But an agreement is two. Unions must stop constantly changing their demands at the bargaining tables, ”she lamented.
PHOTO JACQUES BOISSINOT, ARCHIVES THE CANADIAN PRESS
The President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel
Mme LeBel was responding to questions from the parliamentary leader of Quebec solidaire, Christine Labrie, who asked him to withdraw “his threat of special law”. Last week, Sonia LeBel said that it was “part of the tools” to end the conflict with childcare workers.
The Prime Minister, he assured to be “very close to an agreement with the educators in day care”, but admits that there is a point in dispute concerning the other employees.
Where there is a problem is with support staff, the demand is disproportionate to what we are offering.
François Legault, Prime Minister
The Federation of Early Childhood Workers (FIPEQ-CSQ) also voted for an indefinite general strike mandate last week, but no walkout date has yet been announced. More than 8000 children attending 130 CPE could be affected by the strike of this union.
“We are doing everything we can to settle and avoid the indefinite general strike because we know that it causes problems for parents and financial losses for our workers,” said Valérie Grenon, president of the FIPEQ-CSQ, Tuesday.
She said she was “confident” that the negotiations will be concluded soon. However, she did not rule out the start of the strike next week “if things do not move”.
Salaries and steps
According to the Quebec offer, educators would receive $ 21.38 to $ 28.31 per hour on the 10e echelon. The government proposes to add two more steps to the scale, which currently has 10, to bring the hourly wage to $ 30.03 at 12e echelon. The FIPEQ, for example, asks from $ 22.85 per hour to $ 30.29 per 10e echelon. For the “other” workers, the FIPEQ affirms that the support employees of the childcare centers are behind by 20 to 35% compared to their peers in the public sector, depending on the job title.
The Canadian Press
In numbers
11,000
Number of CPE workers on strike
10
Number of days of strike action in childcare centers represented by the FSSS-CSN since the start of negotiations
Source: FSSS-CSN
Call to all
Will you be affected by the indefinite general strike that begins this Wednesday in 400 childcare centers in Quebec? How will you organize your daily life for the care of your children? Do you support the pressure tactics of childcare workers? Does this strike seem justified to you?