FAE teachers say it’s “unrealistic” Quebec students will be in class Monday, last day of strike for common front and FIQ
Posted December 14, 2023 11:36 am.
Last Updated December 14, 2023 12:10 pm.
As the public sector inter-union common front and the FIQ hold the last day of their respective strike days this Thursday, the FAE says it finds it “laughable if not completely unrealistic” to consider a return to class next Monday.
The common front, made up of the CSN, CSQ, APTS and FTQ, which represent 420,000 workers in the health and education networks, is due back at the bargaining table at 11 a.m..
It has scheduled a meeting of its governing bodies for Monday and Tuesday to take stock of the progress of negotiations and decide what action to take on its strike mandate. The current seven-day strike sequence was to be the last before unlimited strike action in January, its representatives had warned.
The Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE) held a meeting of its governing bodies in Quebec City on Thursday, as it has done every week since the start of its indefinite strike.
The day before, Prime Minister François Legault had hinted at a return to class next Monday, which would mean the end of the strike by the FAE and the FSE, affiliated to the CSQ, which is a member of the common front. But the two union federations concerned have indicated that they find this assertion unrealistic.
At a press briefing on Thursday, FAE president Mélanie Hubert described the Prime Minister’s statement as “laughable, not to say completely unrealistic, and out of touch with the reality that has been on the table since Monday”.
She doesn’t see how, in four days, the parties could manage to settle everything that remains to be settled, convene an FAE body that would deem this to be a valid agreement in principle, and then recommend an end to the strike.
“There’s not yet a text that’s solid enough to say we’re there,” concluded Hubert. The FAE launched its unlimited strike on November 23.
Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel expressed surprise at the union’s comments. “We are extremely surprised by the FAE’s comments at this stage, and we are convinced that an agreement is within reach with the important advances that are on the table for teachers and students.”
The Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé (FIQ), which represents 80,000 nurses, nursing assistants and other health care professionals, is awaiting a response from the government on Thursday to a proposal it submitted to its sectoral table the previous day, concerning working conditions.
The FIQ is also holding a meeting of its governing bodies next Wednesday to take stock of the negotiations and decide on the continuation of its strike mandate.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Dec. 14, 2023.
