« Une négociation qui dure un an et demi, à couteaux tirés, ça n’a pas d’allure », et une réflexion doit être faite comme société pour que ça n’arrive « plus jamais ».
Telle est l’une des principales conclusions à laquelle en arrive Éric Gingras, président de la Centrale des syndicats du Québec, en conférence de presse lundi matin.
« Le gouvernement a déposé des offres ridicules [avec des augmentations salariales] by 9% in December 2022,” he said.
We should be able, next time, “not to start so far away” and not end up with “a psychodrama in public services”.
“Waiting until December 28 to arrive at a result” does not make sense in the eyes of Mr. Gingras, who pleads for serious discussions much earlier.
Schools in Montreal, Laval and Quebec suffered a month-long strike. But for those whose staff was represented by the Common Front, the students missed eight days of school, which is not an insurmountable delay, according to Mr. Gingras.
Rejecting the idea for his members of having to give up the spring break or extend the school year into June, Mr. Gingras stressed that Quebec “has experienced bad weather, icy weather” historically, and that the teachers represented by the Common Front will be able, “through their professionalism”, to find solutions.
Mr. Gingras recalled that the offer on the table is represented to the members and that the CSQ will not recommend a vote one way or another.
However, he stressed that the uninteresting offers were rejected out of hand, which is not the case for the one presented to teachers.
Mr. Gingras regrets that the Legault government did not consult the unions and only informed them of the catch-up plan with a view to returning to class.
Setting the course for the future, Mr. Gingras mentioned the upcoming negotiations of early childhood workers.
Among his union’s next priorities, Éric Gingras mentioned the June congress, the importance of zero tolerance for violence in schools and the need to think about the issues of artificial intelligence which will likely lead to job losses.