While a “ momentum settles”, the Common Front unions, who began their second of three days of strike on Wednesday, want to give negotiation a chance before announcing new strike dates. At a press briefing, the leaders of the four centrals of the Common Front (CSN, CSQ, FTQ and APTS) affirmed on Wednesday that they were going to meet at the end of the week to develop the strategy to adopt depending on the progress of the negotiations.
“Today, are we announcing new strike dates? The answer is no,” insisted Éric Gingras, president of the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), in front of Ahuntsic college in the cold November rain.
“We want to give room for negotiation, a place to allow a settlement to be reached,” he declared. The next few days are important. And for our part, we are going to take stock of all this this weekend, at the start of the week, to see what happens next. »
The dialogue is open
The union members say they trust the conciliator who was appointed at their request in the case. Meetings have already taken place at the start of the week and others are planned for Wednesday afternoon and Thursday in Quebec, said the first vice-president of the Confederation of National Unions (CSN), François Enault. “What we wanted was for us to have rigor, for us to have movement at the negotiating table,” he explained. Nothing has been settled, but at a minimum, there is a momentum who settles down and the conciliators make the job that we wanted, namely that the government could sit down and then give us answers that we have been waiting for months. »
According to Mr. Enault, the dialogue is open, even if we are not yet talking about the main issues. “We’ve said it from the start: in a negotiation, you have to start with the little things, then work your way up. Yesterday, at least, there were discussions on small things, then we responded to each other, which hadn’t been done for months. So the conciliator is used for that, to structure the negotiation and to provide deliverables to the two negotiating committees. »
However, he specifies that nothing has yet been resolved. “We will not sign today, but at a minimum, what we wanted as an objective [c’est que] people can talk to each other. »
If they want to give negotiation a chance, they warn that they will “not do that for weeks”. They will therefore meet their experts at the negotiating tables during the weekend to take stock of the progress of the talks and then decide on the strategy to adopt. “We are going to do our homework here, but for the moment, there is no scenario,” assures the president of the FTQ, Magali Picard. We are waiting to see what happens at the negotiating table. »
His colleague François Enault, of the CSN, however, recalls that he has an unlimited strike mandate in his pocket. The unions could also decide to launch a new, slightly longer strike sequence. But nothing is possible for the coming days, while the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE) begins an indefinite general strike on Thursday.
“You know, in the public sector, you have to give opinions [avant de déclencher une grève], explains Mr. Enault. Our opinion was for Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. So on Friday, it was clear that people were returning to work and afterwards, we had to evaluate for the next sequence and send our opinions [une dizaine de jours à l’avance] in establishments. »
But the union members hope that it will be resolved quickly, recalls Éric Gingras. “The issue is not to strike. The challenge is to resolve. This is what the members want. »
The job they love
In front of the Ahuntsic CEGEP, the horns responded to the noises of the union members, who were hopeful that the three days of strike would make it possible to move things forward on the Quebec side. “It’s important to be there, but we would prefer to be in class, working, giving our lessons,” says Mathieu Poulin, French teacher at CEGEP. He said he was ready to go as far as an indefinite strike if necessary, but affirmed that if they went there, it would not be with joy of heart. “No one wants to, but if we have to, we’ll do it. »
His colleague Sophie Labrecque agreed with this. “I feel ready, we will face him if it has to happen. I even feel a little guilty compared to the people who are already on an indefinite general strike. I have the impression that we are riding on their courage a little. »
But for now, they are preparing to return to class on Friday. “If these three days can give momentum to the negotiations, if it can show the current mobilization and it gives the government a boost so that things start moving, we will return to work,” explains Bernard St- Louis, professor of psychology at CEGEP Ahuntsic. And I think people will go home with the feeling that we will have done what was necessary to make things happen. And we will happily return to the job we love. »