The members of the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE) of Haute-Yamaska narrowly accepted on Friday the agreement in principle reached between their union and the government of Quebec, thus tipping the scales in favor of the agreement obtained by the union center after a month of strike.
The members of the Haute-Yamaska Teachers’ Union (SEHY) voted 50.58% in favor of the agreement in principle obtained on December 28 after 22 days of strike. According to data obtained by The dutythe majority was only 13 votes (569 votes for the agreement, 556 against).
The SEHY, which represents some 2,000 teachers, was the last of the nine local FAE unions to speak out. Before him, four affiliated unions had voted in favor of the offer while four others had rejected it since voting began in mid-January.
The SEHY vote was therefore crucial, since at least five of the nine unions affiliated with the FAE and a majority of the votes cast had to be in favor of the agreement in principle for it to be ratified.
The FAE confirmed the adoption of the agreement and convened a press briefing Monday morning in Montreal to provide an update on the negotiations. Until then, she refuses to comment. The result will be officially confirmed by the delegations of the affiliated unions during the Federal Negotiating Council on February 7.
Sonia LeBel, President of the Treasury Board, welcomed the decision of the FAE members.
“We take note of the result and emphasize that this is a negotiated agreement which responds to important issues on both sides: we are improving services, working conditions, work organization and salaries,” she said in a statement sent to the media.
“It is obvious that negotiation does not solve everything,” she added. We will build on the progress made to continue working on certain elements such as class composition, for example. We heard the teachers’ message. »
Controversial agreement
Just like the Pointe-de-l’Île and Laval Education Unions, the SEHY executive had previously recommended rejecting the agreement in a message sent to its members, deploring that it “does not does not significantly improve” the working conditions of its members, particularly the composition of classes.
The SEHY, which represents teachers at the Val-des-Cerfs school service center in the greater Granby region, declined our interview request.
“We have not obtained any gain in terms of the composition of the class,” lamented Marylaine Racicot, teacher at the Phénix school in Granby, who voted against the agreement. Salary was not important for the vast majority of us. The crux of the matter was really the composition of the classes and the heaviness of the task. »
“I think people were really exhausted and wanted to move on, unfortunately,” she said. In my opinion, the teachers who said yes did so mainly because they didn’t believe we could get better [en rejetant l’entente]. »
In addition to salary increases of 17.4% over five years, the agreement also provides that a one-time bonus of $4,000 will be paid to teachers whose class is made up of 60% students in difficulty. In secondary school, this bonus would be granted when 50% of students are in difficulty. It would reach $8,000 in the event that no assistance resources could be granted to a teacher finding themselves in such a situation.
In search of a new employment contract, the FAE launched an indefinite general strike on November 23. The union did not have a strike fund.
In total, the FAE represents 66,500 teachers, mainly in preschool, primary and secondary schools. Its workforce represents approximately 40% of teachers in the Quebec public school network.