The indefinite general strike is maintained in 400 early childhood centers (CPEs) in Quebec. As of Wednesday morning, more than 43,000 children will have to be looked after by grandparents, neighbors or teleworking parents.
The FSSS, which is affiliated with the CSN, ended its day of negotiations on Tuesday, concluding that there was “no significant progress” which could have justified the postponement of its already announced strike. She therefore launched her indefinite strike on Wednesday morning.
“Since the strike announcement last week, negotiations have unfortunately made little progress,” Stéphanie Vachon, representative of the CPE sector at the FSSS – CSN, said Tuesday evening in a press release. The government has finally agreed to discuss a number of points it previously refused to address, but the gap between our positions remains colossal and the thorny issue of compensation for support staff is still at an impasse. ”
The union maintains that the two parties are close to an agreement on the remuneration of educators, but that several issues remain unresolved, such as salary increases for other job titles, respect for ratios of children per educator, the time it takes to prepare the child’s files and manage the kitchen, as well as the enhancement of the group insurance plan.
“Parents must find a plan B for tomorrow,” said Lucie Longchamps earlier Tuesday, vice-president responsible for the private sectors at the Federation of health and social services (FSSS-CSN). This is in constant discussion with the committee at the negotiating table.
The union members of CPE affiliated with the CSN voted 92% in favor of an unlimited general strike mandate last week if negotiations with the government do not unblock. Quebec has already granted significant salary increases to educators, but the union wants these increases to also be offered to cooks, specialized educators and maintenance personnel, in particular.
Further days of negotiations are scheduled for Wednesday and Thursday. “What we hope is that as soon as the indefinite general strike is called, there will be no more stoppage in the negotiations. The goal is to come to a satisfactory agreement for everyone as quickly as possible so that the strike is lifted and parents and children find their educators and their childcare center ”, adds Mr.me Longchamps.
Quebec wants a negotiated agreement
In Quebec, the president of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, hammered Tuesday that she does 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.
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 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 for support employees, the demand is disproportionate to what we are offering,” explained François Legault.
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”.
With The Canadian Press