“We did not have the understanding that the teachers deserve,” admitted Monday the president of the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE), Mélanie Hubert.
“It would have taken a truly extraordinary agreement to achieve unanimity,” said M.me Hubert during a press conference. She said she welcomed “with lucidity” the verdict of its members regarding the agreement in principle which was concluded at the end of December with the government of Quebec.
“The results of the votes in recent weeks show us that we are not faced with massive support for an agreement in principle that fully satisfies all of our members. » According to her, however, this is not a “bargain” agreement. “I think it was an agreement that was honest, negotiated until the last minute,” she said. “We faced an employer party who negotiated extremely tightly. But we couldn’t go as far as we would have liked. »
Asked about the criticisms — coming from parents and members — regarding the strategy of holding a strike, which ultimately lasted 22 days, Mélanie Hubert argued that it was a “collective decision”. “It was the fruit of a long democratic process and since it is a collective choice, I think we also had to rally behind it,” she explained.
On December 28, the FAE reached an agreement in principle with Quebec, putting an end to its 22-day strike that began on November 23. In recent weeks, five FAE unions voted in favor of the agreement in principle, while four rejected it.
Friday, the Haute-Yamaska members of the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE), the last union to speak out, narrowly accepted the agreement in principle in a proportion of 50.58%.
Further details will follow.
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