Some CPE daycares will open at 10 a.m. in Quebec due to strike mandate
Posted November 29, 2024 8:59 am.
For the third consecutive week, some 3,000 workers in early childhood centres (CPEs) are on strike for a few hours Friday.
The 3,000 workers are members of the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) affiliated Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance (FIPEQ).
The affected CPEs will open their doors at 10 a.m., since their adopted strike mandate allows them to open later each Friday.
Next week, they will open their doors at 12 p.m. if no progress is made at the negotiating table.
The main points of dispute are salary, workload, and work organization.
A qualified educator in an early childhood centre earns $21.60 per hour at the first level and $28.60 at the 10th level.
The unions representing workers in CPEs argue that they only received a 12.7 per cent salary increase over five years from Quebec, while all government employees were given a 17.4 per cent over five years.
The Treasury Board points out that “the 17.4 per cent increase granted to the Common Front was based on compensation in terms of flexibility in work organization which have a real impact on services.”
There is currently a shortage of workers in daycare services, with Quebec seeking to attract workers in this field by opening thousands of spaces.
The FIPEQ, affiliated with the CSQ, also represents 9,000 educational childcare providers who work in family childcare services.
They are also opening their respective services later and later every day of the week.
Negotiations between the parties are continuing. They began in the spring.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
