Daycare strike Feb. 6 in 400 CPEs across Quebec
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Posted January 29, 2025 9:51 am.
Last Updated January 29, 2025 11:12 am.
A second day of strike action will affect around 400 early childhood centres (CPEs) on Feb. 6.
The Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux, affiliated with the CSN, which represents the approximately 13,000 unionized workers concerned in the CPEs, decided this after its day of negotiations on Tuesday, which it did not consider sufficiently fruitful.
These union members had already walked out for one day last Thursday, Jan. 23. Then negotiations resumed with the Quebec government on Tuesday.
The strike mandate the union has already is for five days, to be exercised at the appropriate time.
The main point of contention is salary, as well as the burden of tasks, bonuses for working in the regions and support for children with special needs.
Quebec has already reached agreements in principle with other unionized CPEs who are represented by the Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance, affiliated with the CSQ, as well as with the Syndicat québécois des employé(e)s de service (SQEES) and the Syndicat des métallos, both affiliated with the FTQ. Two of these three agreements have even been ratified by their members.
The agreement reached with the FIPEQ provides for the same increases as those in the public sector, i.e. 17.4% over five years, and even more for certain job titles and salary levels. For example, the first salary step for a qualified educator will increase from $21.60 to $25.15 per hour. The aim is to attract more candidates to the profession.
The FSSS says it has not yet been presented with the same offer as the FIPEQ.
The Treasury Board had indicated, last Thursday, that “the 17.4 per cent increase granted to the common front was based on compensation in terms of flexibility in the organization of work that have a real impact on services.”
In the context of its desire to create thousands of childcare spaces to meet demand and where there is a shortage of workers in this field, Quebec says it is determined to improve the situation. “All parties share the same objectives: to improve access to childcare services, to offer quality services to a greater number of children, to encourage the training of educators and to offer them greater support in order to lighten their workload.”
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews