The Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE), which is meeting to review negotiations with Quebec, was expected to decide on Friday whether to continue the strike.
Its leaders must determine whether recent “progress” in negotiations with Quebec is enough to suspend the indefinite general strike while other options are also explored.
• Also read: FAE strike: Hundreds of people demonstrate in Granby
On Thursday morning, FAE President Mélanie Hubert told TVA Nouvelles that recent progress in negotiations with the government could potentially lead to the suspension of the indefinite general strike if this progress is deemed “significant”.
The FAE authorities, which have been meeting since Thursday afternoon, were due to publish their verdict on Friday.
However, this meeting had been planned for some time, so it was not an extraordinary meeting called at the last minute, emphasizes the FAE.
Other options
Other options are still on the table, such as bringing in an arbitrator and continuing the strike.
The 65,500 FAE teachers have been on the streets since November 23, resulting in the indefinite closure of 40% of the province’s schools, unprecedented in Quebec in 40 years.
For her part, the president of the Alliance of Montreal Professors made it clear on Thursday that it was not possible to “suspend” the strike.
“It is not possible to suspend the strike. “It means stopping the strike and resuming it later if necessary, and that means going through all the voting processes and the legal deadline… Today we will assess what is happening,” explained Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre.
“If we end the strike, it is because we consider what we have on the table to be satisfactory, and that represents great progress,” she added, while recalling the great need for public schools.
Photo agency QMI, JOEL LEMAY
“Things are going well” with the teachers
For his part, Prime Minister François Legault appeared relatively optimistic on Thursday and reiterated that negotiations with teachers are progressing.
“I think things are going well for the teachers,” he said, while the situation for the nursing staff is seen as “more complicated.”
For his part, Education Minister Bernard Drainville reiterated on Thursday that he “remains hopeful” of achieving a quick result, even if the signals sent by the FAE are not enough to convince him that an agreement is within reach.
Until Christmas?
He admits that the conflict could last until Christmas. “Unfortunately, it’s possible that it lasts that long […] “We want a solution to be found as quickly as possible, first and foremost for the children, for the parents, but also for the staff, for whom things are slowly becoming difficult,” he reiterated.
• Also read: Unlimited general strike: A longer conflict remains “possible”
The minister did not rule out resuming missed school days.
Improving working conditions, for example through the provision of services to students, is at the heart of teachers’ demands.
These teachers without strike pay have been vocal on the picket lines in recent days to express their “satiety” as the number of struggling students in public schools across the province increases each year.
With TVA Nouvelles and Patrick Bellerose.