Quebec family daycares vote on mandate to open later until possible strike day

Heavier pressure tactics could begin in family daycare services, as 9,000 workers have just voted in favour of a pressure tactic mandate that calls for services to open later, which could lead to a one-day strike.

The 9,000 family daycare providers in 17 regions of Quebec are members of the Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance (FIPEQ) union, affiliated with the CSQ.

They want to put pressure on the Quebec government to speed up the progress for negotiations to renew their collective agreement.

The mandate that they adopted, by a majority of 95 per cent, provides for a later opening of the daycare service, every day of the week, for four weeks.

The first week, daycare would open half an hour later; the second week, one hour later; the third week, one and a half later; and the fourth week, two hours later.

The mandate also provides for a half-day strike and a full-day strike, but to be exercised only at the appropriate time — which would not necessarily be immediately after the first four weeks of delayed opening of the daycare service.

“We don’t want to use it. It is our last resort. We will try to put pressure on things to move differently. But if we have no choice, we have no choice!” said FIPEQ president Valérie Grenon in an interview.

If necessary, parents will be notified at least 10 working days in advance, in order to find an alternative solution, she said.

“It won’t happen in the next few days, but it could happen more quickly than we think,” noted Grenon.

Negotiations with Quebec have not been broken off and a meeting is still planned for this week.

Grenon, however, says that the financial issue has not yet been addressed. Only some of the normative clauses have been, such as child care and the structure with the coordinating offices.

Family daycare providers are not paid by the hour. Instead, they receive a subsidy from the Family Ministry to cover their wages, food for the children, toys, etc.

The FIPEQ is the union organization with the largest number of members in family daycare services. It also has thousands of members in CPEs, but it is not the majority there.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews