Thousands of teachers and support staff affiliated with the Inter-Union Common Front will strike from midnight to 10:30 a.m. on Monday, forcing the cancellation of classes and school transportation in several schools in the province. Parents will have to be creative in caring for their children as classes don’t resume until the afternoon.
“We have a friend who looks after both his own children and ours and picks everyone up [à l’école] at lunchtime,” explains Matthieu Masdoumier, whose children will be affected by the strike. As a nurse belonging to the Common Front, he himself will go on strike tomorrow and says he understands the demands of school staff.
However, André Rodrigues, a single father, cannot rely on those around him to take care of his son. “I have to lose half a day of work or take it with me [sur mon lieu de travail] », Explains the CEGEP professor, who will go on strike himself. In CEGEPs the strike takes place from midnight to noon.
Gabriel Papineau will take the morning off to care for his three children, a plan he’s now familiar with. “We have already looked after children and work during the pandemic, it is certainly not the most pleasant […], but I dare to hope that the threat of an indefinite general strike will help the negotiations. » He and his partner Chantale Martineau took turns taking time off during their prison terms to share the burden for their respective employers.
Élodie Gelin, mother of three children, will take the opportunity to get involved in political education. “I will also go on strike because I am a nutritionist in a CLSC. I’ll take the kids picketing. [Ça va me permettre de] Also show them what the strike is, why people strike and what they do during the strike,” she explains.
A “ridiculous” offer
The activities of health and social institutions will also be suspended on Monday, the first day of the Common Front strike involving 420,000 workers. The unions had described the new offer from Quebec presented a week ago as “ridiculous”. The government’s offer includes a 10.3% pay increase over five years for all state employees, with a one-time lump sum payment of $1,000 in the first year. In addition, there are amounts reserved for state priorities related to work organization.
The Common Front is calling for a three-year contract with a wage increase of $100 per week or the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus 2% for the first year, the CPI plus 3% for the second year and the CPI plus 4% for the third.
Chantale Martineau is aware of the working conditions of school staff and puts the disadvantages of this first day of strike into perspective. “We all have someone around us who is a teacher or special needs teacher and comes to school from near or far,” she says. If we manage to have an education sector that is doing well, everyone benefits, children and adults. »
Faced with the possibility of a protracted conflict, parents are already preparing their emergency plan. “We have a good neighborhood, so we can help each other in the neighborhood, it will be quite well organized,” says Élodie Gelin. The possibility of teleworking will allow her to keep the children at home in the event of an indefinite general strike, even if the situation is not ideal.
“If it is a one-off, we will always try to find solutions and take precautions, but if it is unlimited, it becomes complicated,” admits Matthieu Masdoumier. However, he shows “solidarity with the teachers; “It’s a public school and I believe in the public anyway,” although he regrets the fact that the conflict has reached the point of a strike.
With the Canadian Press