13,000 CPE daycare workers striking Thursday
Posted January 22, 2025 1:03 pm.
Last Updated January 23, 2025 4:42 pm.
More than 13,000 workers in 400 early childhood centres in Quebec are holding a one-day strike on Thursday — including 112 CPEs in Montreal and Laval.
“Every striking day is a precious day for the workers and we want to take that one step at a time,” said Caroline Senneville, the president of the Confédération des Syndicats Nationaux (CSN).
They are workers who are members of the Fédération de la Santé et des Services Sociaux (FSSS), affiliated with the CSN.
This is their first day of strike action, within a five-day mandate they had agreed to at the end of last year.
The CPEs associated with the FSSS-CSN striking Thursday:
- 7 CPEs in Abitibi-Témiscamingue
- 12 CPEs in Bas-Saint-Laurent
- 10 CPEs on the Côte-Nord
- 22 CPEs in Centre-du-Québec and Mauricie
- 36 CPEs in Estrie
- 12 CPEs in Gaspésie and the Magdalen Islands
- 11 CPEs in Lanaudière
- 25 CPEs in the Laurentians
- 51 CPEs in Montérégie
- 112 CPEs in Montreal and Laval
- 23 CPEs in Outaouais
- 64 CPEs in Quebec City and Chaudière-Appalaches
- 31 CPEs in Saguenay–Lac-Saint-Jean
“ I think we need more respect and more recognition for the job that we do. We’re raising the generations here in CPEs. We’re the one, the starting step of these children’s lives,” said Tina Poirier, CPE Educator at Pointe St-Charles.
“A lot of educators are frustrated in their workplace because of the fact that they really want to help these children and they can’t. Because they don’t have an extra person in there.”
Quebec and the FSSS were still in negotiations as of Wednesday.
The dispute mainly concerns wages, workload, regional disparity bonuses and support for children with special needs.
“Why aren’t negotiations moving forward more quickly, and how aren’t the offers at the bargaining table attractive at the moment?” said Lucie Longchamp, vice president of the FSSS’ parapublic and private sectors.
CPE representative Stéphanie Vachon said the negotiations have not been going well. Saying, “We want the government to understand that we need to get a next step in the negotiation and really get serious at the table to find solutions that is going to satisfy the worker in the daycare to have an agreement.”
In a statement, the Office of the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel said that “the government does not comment on the pressure tactics used by the unions.”
“On Dec. 22 and 23, the government announced agreements in principle with union members represented by several unions: the FIPEQ-CSQ and two unions affiliated with the FTQ,” they added. “Moreover, the members of the FIPEQ-CSQ welcomed the agreement in principle following the general meetings held in January and those of the FTQ are in the process of voting.”
Adding that “now, discussions are continuing with the last union, the FSSS-CSN. Furthermore, it is important to mention that the 17.4 per cent increase granted to the Common Front was based on compensation in terms of flexibility in work organization that have a real impact on services.”
“The daycare system in Quebec is the pillar of our society. It’s good for the families. It’s good for the women. It’s been a women’s fight for decades,” said Senneville.
Quebec wants to create thousands of places to meet demand, but is already facing a shortage of workers in daycare services. It is therefore seeking to obtain more flexibility in the organization of work and to optimize existing resources.
Quebec has already lamented the fact that parents have to endure strike days in childcare services, while asserting that the decision to resort to them rests with the unionized workers.
“All parties share the same objectives: improving access to child care services,” the the Office of the President of the Treasury Board said in their statement. “Offering quality services to a greater number of children, encouraging the training of educators and offering them greater support to lighten their workload.”
“Finally, let us point out that the government granted increases of 18 per cent for qualified and specialized educators during the last round of negotiations,” they added.
The next bargaining date with the FSSS is scheduled for Jan. 28.
“We still have four other strike days, which have not yet been announced, and which will be announced at times, of course, when negotiations deem it necessary. The aim is not necessarily to use them – you’ve understood that – but if we have to, unfortunately, we will,” Longchamp said.
—With files from The Canadian Press, first published in French and translated by CityNews
