Will schools whose teachers are affiliated with the Autonomous Education Federation reopen on Monday? As the weekend begins, the answer is still awaited: the FAE delegates are still meeting to debate it.
For almost two days, the member unions of the FAE have been discussing the procedure to follow for the rest of the negotiations with Quebec.
Among other options: continue the unlimited general strike of 66,000 teachers, in progress since November 23, suspend it or even request the intervention of a conciliator.
A decision that affects hundreds of thousands of young people spread across 900 schools in the province.
Friday, Prime Minister François Legault asked the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE) to stop the strike because “we cannot hurt our children” and once again said he was ready to improve the salary offer.
This is “emotional blackmail” on the part of the Prime Minister, the FAE wrote on social networks. “What hurts public schools is the deterioration of the system which has been exacerbated since you were in power,” we also add.
The president of the Montreal Teachers’ Alliance, which has approximately 9,500 members, sent a written statement to The Pressdescribing the Prime Minister’s statements as “contempt for teachers who stand up for quality teaching conditions for Quebec students.”
“We will return to class with our students when the government commits to applying a remedy to the ills of public schools,” declared Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre.
On the picket lines this week, teachers met by The Press seemed determined to hold the fort for a long time. Even those who said they were “less unionists” affirmed that they had taken to the streets to provide better learning conditions for their students.
The unions affiliated with the FAE have adopted an unlimited general strike mandate with votes in favor ranging from 84% to 98%, the latter percentage having been obtained by the Alliance des profs de Montréal.
These teachers are distributed in 12 school service centers in the province. They are in Montreal, Laval, Quebec, but also in Estrie, in the Laurentians, in Outaouais and in Montérégie.