(Quebec) The Legault government has finally reached an agreement in principle with the largest teachers’ union at a time when the FAE, on strike, is still in a negotiation blitz.
Delegates from the Federation of Education Unions (FSE-CSQ), which represent 60% of teachers and which is part of the Common Front, were gathered on Friday afternoon.
They then ratified the draft regulation that had been presented to them, the result of a negotiation blitz that began the day before and which continued until late last night and Friday morning.
The details of the agreement in principle, which mainly concerns working conditions, were not immediately revealed by the FSE-CSQ. It also concerns the approximately 8,000 teachers in Quebec’s English school boards represented by the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers (APEQ-QPAT).
“We had the mandate to concretely improve the daily lives of teachers on the basis of our three priorities: class composition, reduction of workload and remuneration. We were able to agree on a proposed settlement because we are moving forward on these three elements,” said the president of the FSE-CSQ, Josée Scalabrini and president of the QPAT, and Steven Le Sueur, in a press release.
The agreement will first be submitted to their members who will be called to vote at a general meeting on a date which has not yet been specified on Friday evening.
The adoption of the agreement 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 concluded its own agreement afterwards.
It is true that a sectoral agreement would mainly concern working conditions. But it would also affect the salary: it is certain that the salary scale will be revised upwards.
To this improvement will be added the salary increase that all state employees will obtain following a possible agreement at the central table, where the Common Front (CSN, FTQ, CSQ and APTS) and the government are still negotiating.
Regarding this negotiation, the FSE-CSQ still shows solidarity with the other unions and affirms that “the salary issues must be resolved in order to avoid an unlimited general strike” of the Common Front, which represents it at this, as this was announced for the start of 2024.
Blitz for the FAE
For the moment, there is no proposed settlement with the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE), which is not part of the Common Front. There was no blitz of negotiations on Thursday as for the FSE-CSQ, because the FAE considered that the subjects that the government wanted to address did not cover certain important issues for the Federation.
However, the government accepted early Friday afternoon the FAE’s proposal to begin a blitz.
“Are we in a blitz? No, not yet,” said FAE president Mélanie Hubert earlier in a video message broadcast shortly before noon on the organization’s Facebook page.
“But it’s coming. Yesterday, the management party invited us to a blitz, but in the discussion, we understood that they were still trying to restrict the subjects that would be at stake for negotiation. So, our federal negotiating council told us that we want to speed up the pace and go for a blitz to reach an agreement, but not on the conditions imposed. We had 22 days of GGI (unlimited general strike) and it is certainly not to let us dictate our behavior. »
The president added that the negotiating committee will be available to negotiate throughout the holiday period “if necessary”, but that there will be no “cut-out” agreement.
At the end of the day, Friday, the FAE published a message on its Facebook page inviting its members who wish to “continue to show their colors during the holiday break”. However, the publication was ultimately removed after a large number of comments where people attacked the union’s strategy.
In the meantime, the FAE intends to “evaluate the impact” of the settlement proposal concluded with the FSE-CSQ “on its own negotiations”.
“But that doesn’t change anything about our objectives and the demands we made,” said Mr.me Hubert. Our demands are fair and for the moment, the management side still does not recognize the needs of adult education. She seeks to impose her vision on us despite all the concessions we have been able to make, particularly on assignments as of June 30 and the creation of new permanent positions. »
Professional training is also a “major” issue, she added.
A different strategy
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 launching an unlimited general strike if necessary. She was off work for 11 days, divided into three sequences (one day, three, 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 GGI mandate. 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.
Hundreds of comments
His video message on the FAE Facebook page sparked hundreds of comments, most of them positive and encouraging, but we also sense a certain weariness among several members, and a desire to put an end to this strike which has lasted for 22 years now. days.
“Maybe we should wake up at some point!” ! ! The FSE will have settled and we will still be in GGI! ! ! Let’s see when (sic) it’s time for this strike to end and for the FAE to put water in its wine! ! ! », wrote Sonia Vézina.
“A blitz. An agreement in principle. END. Enough is enough, I no longer have the financial and psychological means to continue your strike which was never mine. It’s embarrassing in the end! », Commented Josée Lusignan.
“We will seem super intelligent… GGI for 22 days and still no agreement in principle vs. FSE a few days of strikes and agreement in principle, it’s still special,” added Yannick Lefebvre.
With Suzanne Colpron, The Press
And the others ?
This agreement in principle between the government and the FSE-CSQ took place at the so-called “sectoral” table of teachers where the majority of working conditions specific to their profession are negotiated, such as the ratios of students in classes, for example. But the FSE-CSQ is one of the union organizations members of the Common Front which negotiates for them at the so-called “central” table the main matters which affect the majority of collective agreements in health and social services and education such as wages. , retirement plan, parental rights, among others. However, the Common Front negotiations continue at the central table, just like the negotiations of the other member organizations of the Common Front at their respective sectoral tables.