The Laval region education union rejected the agreement in principle concluded with Quebec by 68%. This is the first member union of the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE) to speak out against the agreement.
The agreement was presented to the 6,500 teachers of this union Thursday evening at an assembly. The Laval teachers’ union, affiliated with the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE), recommended to its members to reject the agreement in principle concluded with Quebec at the end of December.
Gathered Tuesday evening, around 200 delegates from the Laval Region Education Union (SERL) rejected the agreement in principle “by a majority,” confirmed earlier this week Maya Gagnon, union delegate from this union. The SERL did not want to say on exactly which points it considers that the agreement reached with the Legault government is unsatisfactory.
At this time, we still do not know the outcome of the vote for Montreal’s largest teaching union, the Teachers’ Alliance. The members of the Alliance have been meeting in a virtual general assembly for more than six hours.
“The assembly is going well. Teachers are entitled to an exhaustive explanation of the agreement in principle. They have time to ask their questions, get answers, then make comments. The democratic exercise is necessary,” he told The Press the Alliance’s communications advisor, Alexis Richard, at the end of the evening.
The union submitted the agreement to teachers without recommending that they vote for or against it. With 9,300 members, the Teachers’ Alliance is the largest affiliated union of the FAE.
Adopted in east Montreal
Thursday, the Pointe-de-l’Île Education Union (SEPÎ), in Montreal, adopted the agreement in principle at 58.5%. The union, which represents 4,384 teachers at the Pointe-de-l’Île School Service Center, recommended that its members reject the agreement in principle.
At the beginning of the week, the board of directors of the Haute-Yamaska Education Union (SEHY) also recommended to its members to reject the agreement in principle concluded with Quebec, due to the government’s “apparent contempt” towards the teachers.
The president of this union, Sophie Veilleux, did not want to comment on this decision “before the members have spoken”. However, in its email, the union writes that it believes that the agreement in principle “does not significantly improve [les] working conditions, including the composition of the class.
The FAE has nine affiliated unions which bring together 66,000 teachers. As part of negotiations leading to the renewal of their collective agreement, they held a 22-day strike at the end of last year.
For the agreement in principle signed by the FAE to be ratified, it must be accepted by a double majority, i.e. 50% of the members and 50% of the unions, therefore by 5 of the 9 affiliated unions, but also 50% +1 of the total members. Voting by unions affiliated with the FAE continues until January 25.