Dissatisfaction with the agreement in principle between the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE) and Quebec is growing: two other affiliated unions rejected it late Thursday evening.
Quebec Region Education Union (SERQ) teachers gathered in a virtual general meeting voted against by 60%. This union represents about 9,000 teachers from school service centers in the capital and the Premières-Seigneuries and about 3,700 of them were present at the time of the vote.
Members of the Seigneurie Education Union (SES), who also met on Thursday evening, voted 58% against the agreement a little earlier in the evening.
The SES represents around 900 secondary, vocational and adult education teachers at the Trois-Lacs school service center in Montérégie.
Four for, four against
The fate of this agreement, reached at the end of December after more than 20 days of strikes, appears increasingly difficult to predict, as four unions have so far approved the agreement and four others have rejected it.
In order to be ratified, the agreement must, in principle, be accepted by the majority of the unions affiliated to the FAE (which has nine members) and by the majority of the members it represents.
It is the teachers of one last local union of the FAE, that of Haute-Yamaska in Montérégie, who will have the final say during their general meeting scheduled for January 31.
If the agreement is rejected by a majority of members, teachers will not necessarily return to an indefinite general strike. To return to the negotiating table, the FAE must start from scratch and consult its teachers again on a new strategy and possible pressure tactics.
Teacher torn
The very close results so far show how much this agreement, reached at the end of December after more than 20 days of strikes, is dividing teachers.
On the salary front, the proposed rule provides for average salary increases of 21.5%, but in particular the “class composition” provisions, which are at the heart of the union's demands, disappoint several teachers.
The voices of the unions affiliated to the FAE on the agreement in principle:
FOR
Educational Union Pointe-de-l'Île
CSS de la Pointe-de-l'Île
5300 members
Result: for 59%
Alliance of Montreal Teachers
Montreal CSS
14,000 members
Result: for 54%
Outaouais Education Union
CSS des Portages-de-l'Outaouais, des Draveurs and Cœur-des-Vallées
6600 members
Result: for 58%
West Montreal Teachers Union
CSS Marguerite Bourgeoys
8000 members
Result: for 51%
AGAINST
Laval Region Education Union
Laval CSS
8000 members
Result: around 68%
Basses Laurentides Educational Union
Thousand Islands CSS
7900 members
Result: around 72%
Lordships Education Union
CSS of Trois-Lacs
900 members
Result: around 58%
Quebec Region Education Union
CSS of the Capital and First Lordships
9000 members
Result: around 60%
The Autonomous Education Federation brings together nine affiliated unions.
Members of the Haute-Yasmaska Education Union in Montérégie will vote on January 31.
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