Unlike François Legault, the president of the Autonomous Education Federation has little hope of returning to classes on Monday.
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“It's cozy, not to say completely unrealistic and has no connection to what's happening at the table [de négociations] since Monday,” Mélanie Hubert explained at a press conference on Thursday morning.
The day before, Prime Minister François Legault said he hoped for an early agreement in the indefinite general strike that has shut down nearly 40% of Quebec's schools for four weeks.
The trade unionist describes the talks more as a yo-yo session with good and less good days. “The management listens to us, takes notes and seems to be open. The next day our proposals were rejected and the discussions were concluded,” she summarizes.
There is still a lot of work to be done, so a timely agreement by early next week seems out of reach.
In addition, if an agreement is reached, teachers will need a moment before returning to class work.
The FAE and the employer party must conclude a return to class protocol, possibly to allow a day of preparation, but also to calculate the impact of the strike on seniority and the impact of the conflict on the conditions provided for in the collective agreement.
“For example, there could be a day when teachers go home to prepare for their return,” explains Ms. Hubert.
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Class composition
Despite everything, the President of the FAE recognizes that the negotiations are moving forward, even if there are still impasses.
Quebec, she regrets, refuses to set up new classes when the student groups include other students with particular challenges.
Mélanie Hubert is aware that this wish will be difficult to implement immediately due to the labor shortage. “What we are trying to do with the government is to continue to have written texts so that they can be implemented as quickly as possible,” she explains.
Reaction from Quebec
Before the end of the press conference on Thursday morning, the President of the Ministry of Finance responded with a press release.
“The FAE’s comments are extremely surprising at this time,” wrote Sonia LeBel. I am convinced that we have an agreement within reach, but we cannot solve it alone.”
She assures that the government has proposed “unprecedented measures that would represent significant progress for teachers in class composition”.
This includes in particular the assessment of the difficulty of the tasks, the creation of teaching aids and remuneration.
“Important steps have also been taken regarding professional autonomy, monitoring of breaks, free time and educational days,” she adds, assuring that the government wants to “find a solution quickly.”