13,000 Quebec-run daycare workers to go on one-day Strike Jan. 23

Thousands of Quebec parents will have to find alternate child care on January 23, as 13,000 Quebec-run (CPE) daycare workers will go on a one-day strike in the province. Negotiations started in May of 2024, but daycare workers have been without a contract since March of 2023.

“As a parent, it’s super stressful to have this looming over your head,” said Alex-Ann Adams, parent of an 18-month-old who uses daycare. “As a single parent, that affects me more because who’s going to watch my kids while I go to work?”

On the other hand, Adams is sympathetic to the educators, “[I] really support the strikes, because we know that the work conditions, in daycares are not necessarily up to par.”

“If we want our kids and the next generation to be well raised and well taken care of, we have to take care of the daycare workers as well,” Adams said.

Educators make between $39,000 to $54,000 annually.

Stéphanie Vachon is a representative for the Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux (FSSS) affiliated with the CSN.

She also has 25 years of experience working in a CPE.

Earlier in negotiations, educators with Vachon’s level of experience received an 18 per cent wage increase, but she says it’s still not enough to keep up with inflation.

“I got separated last year and I did not have enough money to rent an apartment of three rooms for me and my two kids,” said Vachon. “I did not have this, this liberty of choice [because] with the inflation right after the negotiation, it seems like the salaries weren’t able to catch up.”

An ‘exhausting job’

Vachon says it’s not just about the salary, but also the working conditions. They’re asking for a more reasonable workload, better pay and more resources to improve the quality of services for children.

“Year after year, the government asks us more work, more perfection in our work, and it’s difficult to give the service, the quality of service that we want to give,” said Vachon. “But also we need hours to do pedagogical time. We need some help for the kids with special needs too. We need to have somebody coming and helping us like a specialized educator.”

Many workers quit to take jobs in the elementary school sector because the salary is 9 per cent higher on average, according to Vachon. “There is no reason for us to be treated differently,” she said. “We want more than 17 per cent, we should have 26 per cent to be treated equally.”

“[The days] go by so fast, it’s like a sprint… we run all day long and we interact with kids, it’s really physical, emotional, and psychological,” said Vachon. “It’s an exhausting job.”

She hopes that the negotiations will move forward and emphasized that the strike is being used as a last resort. Her union has wanted to discuss salary with the province for some time, but the she explained that “the answer was always, we’re going to talk about it later.”

After the province reached agreements with other daycare unions, Vachon thought, “what’s the joke? You don’t want to talk with us about salary, but you’re talking with another group?”