Negotiations between the government and the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE) intensified last night and Saturday morning. Its president recognizes that the agreement reached the day before with the largest teachers’ union “paves the way” for the compromise which is emerging for its grouping, which has been on strike for much longer.
Talks are also ongoing with the Common Front organizations (CSN, FTQ, CSQ and APTS). The Legault government reiterated on Saturday that its objective is to obtain an agreement before Christmas, a sign that reaching the target appears possible. Another positive signal: the Common Front also maintains that a settlement by December 25 is possible.
Negotiations at the central table, where salaries are discussed, continued until 2 a.m. Saturday. Work had to resume quickly.
At the sectoral tables, which concern working conditions, the tempo has also accelerated, including in the health sector. The lights are green, according to a tour carried out by The Press. The talks are progressing well, but there is still a long way to go, it is said.
Quebec and the FAE negotiated all night and again this morning, it was possible to learn from a source familiar with the matter.
“It’s been intensive since yesterday [vendredi]it’s working hard, but there are still discussions to be had, subjects to negotiate, so I’m going to reserve myself,” then confirmed the president of the FAE, Mélanie Hubert, in an interview on the show Facts First, on Radio-Canada. Note that the union leaders of the Common Front canceled their appearance on this program at the last minute.
“We have always had the objective of having an agreement before the holidays, but we will not sign an agreement at a discount,” reiterated Mr.me Hubert when asked whether the FAE and its 66,500 members could continue their indefinite general strike after the holidays.
PHOTO PATRICK SANFAÇON, LA PRESSE ARCHIVES
The president of the Autonomous Education Federation, Mélanie Hubert
Mélanie Hubert does not hesitate to describe the negotiations currently taking place as a “blitz” “since we have been working fairly continuous hours”. Otherwise, neither the government nor the FAE wished to comment officially on the progress of the negotiations.
Pressure has increased on the FAE in the last 24 hours after the announcement of the start of a blitz of negotiations between the government and the Federation of Education Unions (FSE-CSQ) .
This union, which represents 60% of teachers, finally announced Friday evening that its delegates had ratified a draft regulation agreed with the government the previous night. This agreement in principle must be presented to the members of the FSE-CSQ “after the holidays”, according to what its president, Josée Scalabrini, indicated.
The adoption of this agreement in principle would seal most of the new employment contracts for all teachers.
The FAE could modify certain secondary elements with its own agreement; this is what happened during the previous round of talks, when the FAE, under the leadership of Sylvain Mallette, was the first to reach an agreement with the government and the FSE-CSQ had concluded its own agreement subsequently.
“The first federation which signs paves the way a little for the second”, recognized Mélanie Hubert on Saturday, specifying that there remained, however, a “certain margin of maneuver” on “perhaps more peripheral questions”. “It is certain that there are certain major principles that we will have to accept and this is the subject of the discussions currently,” she added subsequently.
The two teachers’ unions adopted a different pressure tactics strategy. The FSE-CSQ — like the other Common Front organizations — opted for strike days first, with the possibility of triggering an unlimited general strike if necessary. She was off work for 11 days, spread over three sequences (one day, three days, then seven).
As for the FAE, it has given itself a mandate for an unlimited general strike. It was his Montreal union, the Alliance of Professors of Montreal, which, on May 16, paved the way by first adopting a mandate for an indefinite general strike (GGI). This was not a proposal submitted by FAE management. The vote took place at the St-Denis Theater, where some 600 of the 9,500 members gathered in an assembly. Support for the GGI was 98.2%. The other regional unions of the FAE then followed suit.