The Legault government and the Federation of Education Unions (FSE-CSQ) entered into a blitz of negotiations at the end of the day Thursday, as talks continued beyond 11 p.m.
We could not presume the result at the time of writing these lines, but this is the first time that the parties have had such intense exchanges since the start of negotiations.
On Tuesday, the FSE-CSQ, which represents 60% of teachers and which is part of the Common Front, rejected the new offer from the Legault government by calling it a “show of smoke and mirrors”. The next day, she submitted a counter-proposal which “is based on the priorities of teachers, namely the composition of the class and the reduction of the task”.
PHOTO YANN DOUBLET, LE SOLEIL ARCHIVES
Josée Scalibrini, president of the Federation of Education Unions (FSE-CSQ)
Also on Wednesday, Prime Minister François Legault met with his ministers Bernard Drainville (Education) and Sonia LeBel (Treasury Board) to find ways to resolve the impasse.
The negotiations intensified on Thursday afternoon and the tempo accelerated further thereafter, so much so that the parties entered into a famous blitz.
This is a positive signal, but we remained cautious on both sides. There is still work to be done, we warned.
The Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE), on an indefinite general strike since November 23, was also in discussion with the government on Thursday, but it did not respond to our messages to provide an update on the situation at the end of the evening .
A month “fighting for public schools”
The holiday break begins as hundreds of thousands of students have been out of school for 24 days now. Who would have said that Quebec would experience a strike of this magnitude in education in 2023? Certainly not the teachers, who nevertheless ensure that they remain focused on their objective: having better working conditions.
Thursday afternoon, La Presse randomly questioned teachers who were wearing red tuques embroidered with the FAE logo.
Cécile was going to look for “cheap vegetables” at the Jean-Talon market. A secondary school special education teacher, she says she wants to “fight for public schools”, even after a month without income.
PHOTO MARTIN CHAMBERLAND, THE PRESS
Cécile, secondary school special education teacher
“I see these children every day. Children who do not have enough to eat, children who barely know how to read and write, young people with autism,” lists the woman, who preferred not to give her last name.
A French woman living in Quebec for three years, she survives on the savings she had reserved to obtain her permanent residence.
“People are very generous, we have grocery store gift cards,” illustrates Cécile. She cites “friendship” on the picket lines and shows off the warm coat given to her by a colleague.
“Honestly, we didn’t think it was going to last this long,” she said.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
Demonstration of FAE members on strike at the entrance to the Port of Montreal at the corner of Notre-Dame and De Boucherville streets
Not far from there, Véronique was walking in the sun with her headphones on.
The feeling we get is that we just want to be exhausted and stop. These are big sacrifices. I’m thinking of mothers of single-parent families, of couples made up of two teachers: it’s enormous, a month without pay, outside in the cold every day. It can be alienating and difficult.
Véronique, secondary school teacher
The proverbial “vocation”, asserts Véronique, does not justify current working conditions. “I can’t count the number of colleagues I’ve seen leave,” she adds.
Also a secondary school teacher, Mohamed observes that on the strike pickets, teachers at the end of their careers are “starting to raise their voices”.
“I know some who are one year from retirement, they say that they are losing their salary for nothing because they will never benefit from the new agreement,” underlines this teacher, who fears putting his colleagues at risk. back if he testifies openly.
But the “general trend,” he observes, is that teachers want to go all the way.
“We have the feeling of being taken for idiots. We feel hurt and not respected,” continues the man, who is still studying to obtain his teaching certificate.
PHOTO ROBERT SKINNER, THE PRESS
A settlement before Christmas? Like many others, he no longer believes it. Before the end of the year, perhaps… Vincent, a secondary school teacher, says for his part that he doesn’t expect anything before the week of January 8.
A major citizen demonstration on Friday
Thursday morning, teachers from the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE) gathered in front of the ports of Montreal and Quebec, since they believe that the government is “leading them” in the current negotiations.
In a press release, the FAE explained that its members had decided to “block the port of Montreal, since the only argument that the government seems to understand is money.”
The Port of Montreal confirmed that this demonstration had “significant” impacts on its activities at the start of the day on Thursday, when approximately 25% of the expected trucks were unable to complete their transactions.
This Friday noon, a rally in support of teachers will be held in front of the offices of Prime Minister François Legault, rue Sherbrooke Ouest. This is a citizen initiative.
The event will be hosted by actor and author Vincent Bolduc and will bring together artists, including Catherine Ethier, Simon Boulerice, Étienne Marcoux, Hubert Proulx, Sophie Cadieux and Steve Gagnon.
Marie-Josée Latour, a teacher on strike, says that people around her have been asking her for weeks how to support teachers. “I told them: come out publicly. We can carry out our union actions, but the population needs to do something,” says M.me Tower. This is how, she said, the event was born.
With The Canadian Press