FAE teachers’ union will table a new counter-offer to Quebec government, strike continues Thursday
Posted December 7, 2023 8:18 am.
Last Updated December 7, 2023 11:23 am.
The Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE) says they’ll soon table a counter-offer to the Quebec government, in order to break the impasse in negotiations surrounding the next collective agreements.
This comes, as they continue a general unlimited strike. Members marched through the streets of Montreal on Thursday morning.
On Wednesday, delegates from the nine FAE-affiliated unions met for most of the day to analyze the government’s verbal offer made on Monday evening.
In a press release issued in the evening, the FAE indicated that it had decided to table a counter-offer “as soon as possible” to the government, with the aim of “reaching a satisfactory agreement before the holiday season”.
The FAE, which is negotiating on its own, called an indefinite strike on November 23. The strike by its 66,000 elementary and secondary teachers will continue on Thursday, it confirmed on Wednesday evening.
The FAE’s action came just hours after Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel raised the wage offer for all public sector employees currently negotiating their next contract.
Quebec increased its wage offer to 12.7 per cent over five years, up from 10.3 per cent the government offered at the end of October. Adding a lump sum of $1,000 in the first year and amounts earmarked for “government priorities”. Quebec now presents its overall offer as worth 16.7 per cent.
“The gap remains significant between this new offer and our request to obtain between 4 per cent or the CPI per calendar year,” noted FAE President Mélanie Hubert in writing.
“As we are also asking for adjustments to our salary scale, we will evaluate the employer’s proposals in their entirety,” she stressed.
The FAE and the CSQ-affiliated Fédération des syndicats de l’enseignement (FSE), which is part of the common front, had received a new offer from Quebec on Monday and Tuesday.
In a video to members released on Wednesday, FSE president Josée Scalabrini tempered expectations. “Yesterday, we got some signals. We’d be ready to start negotiating. It’s far, far, far from meeting your expectations and the expectations of your representatives. We’ll stay on the lookout.”
The FSE represents 95,000 elementary and secondary school teachers.
Teachers belonging to the FSE are currently at work. They went on strike for four days in November, at the same time as the other members of the common front. However, the common front has announced seven more strike days from December 8 to 14.
In their negotiations with Quebec, the two union federations are discussing ways of lightening teachers’ workloads, particularly when it comes to integrating students with special needs or learning difficulties: support from specialized professionals, creation of specialized classes, classroom aids, etc.
In her short video, Scalabrini also explained to her members that Quebec’s offer is only an “exploratory deposit” and that the Quebec government does not want negotiations to take place via the media.
“If they don’t come out in the media, we won’t come out in the media,” asserted the FSE president.
She reiterated her willingness to negotiate on the priorities of her members, not just those of the government.
With information from Lia Lévesque.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 6, 2023.
