Unionized CPE daycare workers in Quebec set to hold two more strike days in March
Posted February 28, 2025 8:24 am.
Last Updated February 28, 2025 8:27 am.
Some 400 of the 1,772 early childhood centres (CPEs) in Quebec will be affected by two more strike days on March 18 and 19.
They will be the fourth and fifth strike days for these workers — the last two days of their strike mandate, which was scheduled for five in total.
The workers are members of unions affiliated with the Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux (FSSS-CSN), which is affiliated with the CSN. They had already walked out on Jan. 23, as well as on Feb. 6 and 17.
The dispute concerns wages, the burden of tasks, bonuses for workers in the regions and support for children with special needs.
The three other union organizations involved in this provincial negotiation have already reached agreements in principle with Quebec and their members have even ratified them, in proportions ranging from 66 per cent to 100 per cent.
These are the Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance, affiliated with the CSQ, the Syndicat québécois des employé(e)s de service and the Syndicat des métallos, both affiliated with the FTQ.
The ratified agreements provide for salary increases of 17.4 per cent over five years, as was the case for all government employees during the negotiations in the public sector. The increases are even higher in some cases. For example, at the entry level, the salary of a qualified educator increases from $21.60 per hour to $25.15.
The FSSS-CSN says that on March 19, during its fifth strike day, it will consult its members to see if they want to adopt another strike mandate — this time with pressure tactics that could go as far as an unlimited general strike.
The representative of the CPE sector at the FSSS-CSN, Stéphanie Vachon, believes that the offer on the table from Quebec is not enough to convince current workers to stay in the network and to attract new workers.
Quebec is seeking to create thousands of spaces in the various childcare services to meet the needs of parents. It is also facing a shortage of childcare workers.
–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews
