The Federation of Education Unions (FSE) has now ratified the proposed settlement concluded with Quebec, after holding its last meeting of members Wednesday evening.
The president of the FSE, Josée Scalabrini, confirmed this in an interview on Thursday. “We can already say that for the Federation of Teaching Unions, the agreement will be accepted. »
To know the precise percentage of support, however, we will have to wait until the FSE federal council meets next week.
The FSE, affiliated with the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), represents 95,000 teachers at the primary and secondary levels, or 60% of them.
Although she cannot yet give a precise percentage of support, Mme Scalabrini assures that the votes of the FSE will not be close as in the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE), which is divided into two almost equal camps. The FAE, which is not part of the Common Front, represents 66,000 teachers.
Cry of the heart not heard
Josée Scalabrini, however, transmits a similar message from its 95,000 members: “There is great disappointment because this government has not heard the teachers’ cry from the heart. We will continue our battle. Not everything could be settled in the collective agreement; That’s what people tell us.”
As for the holding of the members’ meetings themselves, there does not seem to have been the same criticism at the FSE as at the FAE.
Mme Scalabrini reports “new ways of doing things,” varying depending on the local union, to ensure that members have time to think things over before deciding. “Some received information in writing. Some had two meetings to explain the agreement, before arriving on voting night,” she reports.
Acceptance of support staff…
The news is also positive from the CSQ academic support staff. Its federation (FPSS-CSQ) has 40,000 members.
The president of the FPSS-CSQ, Éric Pronovost, reports that “the members have read the content of the proposed combined agreement and they judged, by the majority, that it was satisfactory. They considered that there were positive elements to improve their conditions of exercise, while adding that the problems in education will not be completely resolved, but that this is a regulation which will make it possible to bring about many solutions.
…and education professionals
And the news is also positive from education professionals: speech therapists, psychologists and others.
The Federation of Education Professionals of Quebec (FPPE), affiliated with the CSQ, which represents 12,500 members, announces 81.5% support for agreements in principle.
“The agreements in principle improve, in addition to salary, the working conditions of education personnel,” the federation said in a press release. They include in particular gains on vacations, insurance, teleworking, the organization of working hours, payment of overtime, advantages for supernumeraries, reimbursement of part of the contributions to professional orders, the enlargement and the 2.5% salary increase for the master’s education of several members, bonuses for the supervision of trainees, mentoring, for psychoeducators, and a salary increase added to a bonus for psychologists. »