Teachers are awaiting the conclusion of an agreement with Quebec to decide whether they will remain in the profession or if they will send their CV to employers in the private sector, says the president of the Autonomous Federation of Education, whose members are on the streets for a second week without strike action.
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In the context of the labor shortage, the profile of teachers is interesting, underlines Mélanie Hubert.
“It’s not a threat, it’s a fact. Our people are exhausted. The teachers in the street tell us: “We are going to look at the results of the next negotiations, it will perhaps make the difference to see if I stay or if I leave”,” she confided during a conference of press on Parliament Hill, Wednesday morning.
Despite a second week of strike without any income, FAE members remain motivated to improve teaching conditions in the long term, assures the unionist.
Mélanie Hubert, president of the Autonomous Education Federation.
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“The network has been deteriorating for twenty years. It’s probably going to take that long – two, three, four rounds of negotiations – to really catch up on everything that’s been lost over time,” says Mme Hubert.
But the outbreak of the indefinite general strike had a modest impact on the negotiation process. “For three days, things have been negotiating a little more actively,” remarks the president of the FAE.
Just like the government, Mélanie Hubert hopes to sign a new collective agreement before Christmas.
However, she shows moderate optimism. “I can’t promise it, but that’s what it takes. Mme [Sonia] LeBel, we need her to be there to unblock the tables,” she said.
Class assignment
The FAE had notably summoned the parliamentary press to respond to the Minister of Education, Bernard Draiville, who is demanding to be able to assign classes to teachers from June in preparation for the start of the school year, rather than in September.
Mélanie Hubert says she is open to discussion, but the time frame is too short to reach an agreement on the subject before the holidays.
Instead, she proposes to resolve this issue after negotiations to renew the collective agreements.
“A major change like the one requested, with the impacts that it has, we cannot imagine that we will have resolved this before the holidays, it is impossible. So, we will look at how to talk about it, but we don’t see how that can be done within the framework of this negotiation,” declared Ms. Hubert.