After the long and difficult negotiations in the public sector, another difficult and potentially contentious negotiation is expected with 13,000 workers in home day care centers and CPEs.
Posted at 6:51 am
Lia Lévesque The Canadian Press
Parents may not be at the end of their worries, because even if it is too early to talk about a strike, the president of FIPEQ, Valérie Grenon, admits in an interview: “We have it in mind because we are trying . “To make things happen, to apply pressure in ways other than a strike, but we are not in a position to make anything happen.”
Members of the Federation of Early Childhood Workers (FIPEQ) are demonstrating in Quebec this Thursday morning, hoping to increase pressure on the government to actually start negotiations after months of waiting.
“We start with our pressure tactics. We have started to engage members at the grassroots level. We would welcome parliamentarians to agree on negotiation dates, reports Ms Grenon.
FIPEQ submitted its applications last September and has since confirmed that it has received “no, no, no deposit” from the Quebec government, either in terms of salaries or standards.
“We are negotiating, but we have no one in front of us; They are occupying the table,” shouts Ms. Grenon, referring to the government negotiators.
However, the collective agreements expired on March 31, 2023, at the same time as those in the public sector.
She assumes that Quebec initially wanted to reach an agreement with the all-union Common Front and the FAE before moving on to child care workers, but believes that Quebec could have discussed the normative clauses with FIPEQ at the same time.
His requests
Regarding salaries, last September FIPEQ formulated the same initial demands as the public sector common front, that is, increases in line with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) plus a certain percentage of the annual salary increase.
The CSQ Association is primarily calling for more support in accommodating children with special needs in daycare centers. She also submits other vacation and vacation requests.
Since workers in family day care centers are not paid hourly, but receive a subsidy from the Ministry of Family Affairs for the provision of this service, FIPEQ is calling for an increase in the subsidy for them to take into account the increase in food baskets.
“We cannot wait another year or two. There is currently a labor shortage in the network. The Minister of Families (Suzanne Roy) announces places and locations for families in Quebec. But if we don’t have workers and good working conditions, these places will never open,” Ms. Grenon concluded.