Negotiations in the CPEs: agreements in principle for CSQ & FTQ, not yet with CSN

By The Canadian Press, Lia Lévesque

Agreements in principle to renew collective agreements in childcare centres were reached during the holiday season for unions affiliated with the CSQ and the FTQ. However, an agreement with the CSN is still awaited at the beginning of the year.

The Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux, affiliated with the CSN, is the union organization that represents the largest number of workers in childcare centres.

Discussions with the Quebec government should resume “soon, as planned,” the union federation announced Thursday.

The major unions that reached an agreement in principle on Christmas Eve still represent more than 3,000 workers in childcare centres.

These are the Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance (FIPEQ), affiliated with the CSQ, and the Syndicat québécois des employé(e)s de service (SQEES) and the Syndicat des métallos, both affiliated with the FTQ.

Their members are expected to vote on their respective tentative agreements at meetings in the coming days.

The content of these agreements has not been revealed, as the unions concerned preferred to keep the scoop for their members — as is usually the case in such circumstances.

However, we know that these agreements relate to five-year collective agreements, which would be in effect from 2023 to 2028.

The dispute mainly concerned salaries and the workload.

The unions wanted to obtain the same salary increases as those granted to government employees, namely 17.4 per cent over five years.

But, to offer the same increases, the Quebec government wanted to obtain more “flexibility” in the organization of work, in order to improve services to the population, he explained.

These negotiations are taking place in a context of labour shortage in daycare services and while the Quebec government wants to open thousands of spaces to meet demand.

The Treasury Board, for its part, has indicated that these agreements will offer “better access to services for parents and their children” and that they should also make it possible to “value staff, offer greater support to educators and lighten their workload.”

The Minister of Families, Suzanne Roy, and the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, also believe that these agreements will contribute to “improving the attraction and retention of staff” in this environment.

The salary scale for 2022-2023 — the last year in effect before the current negotiation — gives a salary of $21.60 per hour for a qualified educator at the first level, up to $28.60 at the 10th level. After one year at level 10, the salary increases to $30.03 per hour.

In a message sent to its members on Christmas Eve, after learning that other union organizations had reached an agreement in principle, the FSSS confirmed that it did not yet have an agreement “that would allow us to achieve our negotiation objectives, both to improve our working conditions and salaries.”

“For our part, the negotiation will continue in 2025 with our game plan,” the FSSS added.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews

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