Pressure is growing on the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE), which ended its sixth indefinite day of strike on Thursday. It is the only public sector union organization to immediately launch such a strike, negotiating alone with Quebec and without prior warning.
The FAE had indicated from the start that it would reassess the situation every week. She did this on Thursday because she had called for a strike the previous Thursday. This meeting has already been planned, emphasized the trade union organization.
Around 70 representatives from the nine member unions met throughout the day to assess the status of the negotiations with Quebec and the strike. The talks are scheduled to continue on Friday and all options remain on the table, the union organization assures.
The FAE has not requested mediation, unlike the Inter-Union Common Front, which claims that the arrival of the mediator on site at its request set the negotiating table in motion. This is one of the options that FAE union representatives are considering, such as whether or not to continue the strike.
The trade union organization represents 66,000 teachers in primary and secondary education. For its part, the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) represents 95,000 other primary and secondary teachers and is part of the Common Front; It therefore negotiates within a unit that represents 420,000 employees.
The Joint Front will strike for only four days until December 8th and will then resume it for another seven days, until December 14th.
Meanwhile, Education Minister Bernard Drainville reiterated on Thursday that the decision on how and when to resume these school-free days has not yet been made. Asked about the possibility of the FAE strike being extended until the Christmas break, he said he was aware of it. “Do I hope we don’t go there?” The answer is yes,” he also said.
The FAE’s demands relate to the composition of the class, which it says should be more balanced, as well as the delay in assessing “at risk” students and the possibility for a teacher to carry out certain planning tasks at a time and place of his choice.