FIPEQ president steps down as contract negotiations continue

A leading figure among unionized childcare workers, Valérie Grenon, president of the Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance (FIPEQ), is leaving her position.

She is leaving to take another role at the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), as a counsellor.

The federation affiliated with the CSQ represents 9,000 workers in family childcare services and 3,000 in early childhood centres (CPEs).

Grenon is leaving in the midst of negotiations that began a few months ago with Quebec to renew the collective agreement for family childcare providers and renew the collective agreement for her members in CPEs.

In an interview with The Canadian Press, Grenon said she is leaving because the momentum is there and the next generation is assured and in good hands.

“A lot of battles, a lot of gains, struggles, victories for the members. So, I am leaving very proudly, with a sense of duty accomplished, after these 11 years at FIPEQ,” including eight as president, said Grenon.

Her successor is Anne-Marie Bellerose, who was secretary-treasurer at FIPEQ.

In the past, childcare workers’ unions have often had to resort to pressure tactics. Yet there is a shortage of workers in this field and, what’s more, Quebec wants to create thousands of places in the network to meet demand.

“Are they trying to belittle women’s professions? Are the typically female professions that have more difficulty getting recognized? Often, that’s where the salaries are lower. We’re going to have to find solutions so that we can be heard, perhaps as loudly as the men’s unions,” said Grenon.

The current FIPEQ negotiations are still looking tough, as the two groups of union members—in CPEs and in family daycares—have already adopted “progressive strike” mandates, initially providing for later openings of daycare services.

“The situation can improve. The CAQ government needs to prioritize early childhood. It has sorted out the public sector, so much the better. It has sorted out the nurses. Now, it will have to roll up its sleeves and prioritize early childhood,” said Grenon.

Her successor adds. “It is very difficult to get this government to move. It seems that the only way to show them that we are persevering, that we are fighters, and that we will go all the way is to use pressure tactics,” said Bellerose.

However, “no one wants to go on strike, whether it’s the RSE (educational service managers) in family settings or the CPE workers,” added Bellerose. “But if it’s the only way we have to make ourselves heard, then he should know that we will do it and we will be there to lead the fight.”

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews