Negotiations are progressing between the Legault government and the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE), which has been conducting an indefinite general strike since last week. But union members are so nervous on the picket lines that police had to intervene again outside a school in Montreal on Thursday morning.
In an interview on 98.5 FM, FAE President Mélanie Hubert earlier in the day spoke about the movement at the negotiating tables – enough to encourage the parents of the 368,000 students affected by the strike. Things are moving forward, she admitted.
This statement also pleased Education Minister Bernard Drainville, who said upon his arrival at the National Assembly that he still hoped to reach an agreement with union members by Christmas.
However, Mr Drainville reiterated that he was concerned about delays in learning that could be worsened by the teachers’ strike and that a longer strike remained a possibility.
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In Montreal, Laval and several other regions of Quebec, schoolyards have been empty since the FAE began its indefinite general strike last Thursday.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Ivanoh Demers
Mélanie Hubert was due to meet via video conference on Thursday with the leaders of the nine unions affiliated to the FAE to take stock of the progress of the negotiations – a long-planned meeting that is expected to last until Friday.
This body should decide on further action on the basis of the reports of the negotiating committee.
According to information from 98.5 FM confirmed by Radio-Canada, it was not excluded that after this meeting the Federation would agree to suspend its strike if significant progress was made in the negotiations.
Other scenarios were also on the table, including bringing in a mediator or continuing the indefinite general strike in its current form.
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Asked about the issue on Thursday morning, Quebec Premier François Legault did not want to elaborate on the status of negotiations led by Treasury President Sonia LeBel. Things were going well with the teachers, but things were more complicated with the FIQ, he said happily before taking over the management of the Salon Bleu.
A strike that’s getting worse
Meanwhile, tensions on the picket lines are rising as the conflict drags on.
Police also had to intervene in front of the Irénée-Lussier technical school on Thursday morning, while striking union members from the Alliance of Professors of Montreal, a union affiliated with the FAE, prevented construction workers from entering the facility to carry out repairs.
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Since the start of the strike, the situation has been repeated in many educational institutions in the metropolis, including the Sophie-Barat school, the Robert-Gravel school, the Jeanne-Mance school, the Saint-Émile school and the construction school.
The Montreal School Service Center also sent a formal notice to the Alliance of Teachers on Wednesday, asking union members to allow authorized people to cross the picket lines.
So far the police have not arrested anyone, but their warnings have been enough to get the strikers to cooperate.
The situation is particularly frustrating for them, especially since the construction workers hired to repair schools are often members of the FTQ, a key organization that is also involved in negotiations to renew collective agreements for public sector workers.
From teacher to tutor or babysitter
The FAE union members are even more angry because they have no strike funds.
To make ends meet, several of them have resorted to tutoring and babysitting, reports the daily Le Devoir, which has listed dozens of such advertisements online.
Drawn to the situation, none of the three opposition parties wanted to blame these teachers and limited themselves to saying that an agreement between the government and the FAE was the best way to put an end to this situation, which some parents considered unfair It was felt that families cannot afford such services.
The FAE represents more than 65,000 teachers working in approximately 800 schools and located in school service centers in Montreal, Laval, the Laurentians, the Outaouais, the Capitale-Nationale and the greater Granby region.
But the Legault government is also negotiating with other union units such as the Common Front (FTQ, CSN, CSQ and APTS), the FIQ and the SPGQ. The talks have been going on for several months, but an agreement has not yet been announced.
Certain units such as the FAE have increased their pressure tactics in recent weeks as they are running out of patience.
Common Front leaders – who met Sonia LeBel in person on Wednesday without the meeting resulting in any significant progress – announced seven new days of strike this week, from December 8th through December 14th. The FIQ will also be eliminated from December 11th to 14th.
Finally, on Thursday morning, the SPGQ announced that its members will observe a strike day on December 14th in ten CEGEPs – establishments that will probably already be closed that day anyway, since the university teachers are members of the Front Common.
With information from Mathieu Gohier and Pascal Robidas