François Legault hopes that all children will return to class next Monday because, according to the Prime Minister, negotiations with the striking teachers are going “very well”. A claim quickly denied by the Autonomous Federation for Education (FAE), which instead argued that “the news available is not encouraging”.
Mr Legault was encouraged by the ongoing discussions on the renewal of collective agreements in the public sector. While the teachers represented by the Autonomous Education Association (FAE) have been on an indefinite general strike since November 23, the Prime Minister expressed his hope specifically.
“The negotiations with the teachers are going well, very well,” he said when he arrived at his offices on Wednesday. We talk to each other about the difficulty of the task, about how we can include people in the class, it's going very well. Then I have good hope that all children will go back to school next Monday. » After Mr. Legault made this statement while getting out of his company car, he did not respond to journalists' questions.
For her part, the President of the Ministry of Finance, Sonia LeBel, reiterated that an agreement is “within reach”, although “there are still things to be discussed” and “there is still a lot to do”. “I think it’s realistic to think about the end of the week,” she told reporters. “Very important progress has been made in terms of class composition.” She emphasized that there has been progress in assessing the severity of the task “with help and compensation”, educational days, recreation and personal time.
The negotiations have a “variable geometry” depending on the union, added Sonia LeBel. “We still have expectations of the Common Front,” she said. It is realistic to find ways and reach agreements by the end of the year.”
“The days follow each other and are not the same”
The FAE reacted quickly to Mr Legault's statements. “Contrary to what François Legault says, the news at the table is not encouraging,” the union, which represents 65,500 teachers, wrote on social networks. “The government is blowing hot and cold. He promises us an opening and then immediately closes the door. The government's strategy is clearly to divide the movement and exhaust teachers. »
However, Monday was a good day and “discussions were productive,” said the FAE negotiating committee, “and we were encouraged.” “But unfortunately the days follow one another and are not always the same,” said Mélanie Hubert in a video broadcast on social networks late Tuesday evening.
She claims that although management provided texts on Monday in advance of Tuesday, they “did not necessarily reflect what was said during the day.” “The texts did not take into account the discussions, the ideas of the union side,” she says.
“We've fallen back a little bit into the same mode we've been in for a while, which is that the good old reflex is for the union to give us feedback now,” she continues.
The FAE president is currently in Quebec to follow the negotiations more closely and she is still hoping for an agreement by Christmas, while thousands of students are excluded from classes. Wednesday will be dedicated to follow-up in the FAE bodies “so that affiliates can fully understand this.” “The urgency is that things are sorted out at the table, the urgency is that we reach an agreement,” she said.
Headmaster ready
Ideally, there would be a fundamental agreement by Friday for a return to classes on Monday, school principals report to Le Devoir.
“I think if it's resolved today or tomorrow, it's realistic to open on Monday,” says Quebec Association of School Management Personnel (AQPDE) president Carl Ouellet. It is certain that we will be ready to reopen our schools. But I think it will be a management of the school service centers, because at the moment we have no instructions from the ministry.”
The same echo can be heard from the Fédération québécoise des Directions d'establishment d'enseignement (FQDE). “Before Friday lunchtime” would be ideal, emphasizes its president Nicolas Prévost. “It can be returned within 24 hours,” he said. We have to reorganize daycare services and school transport, which requires a lot of logistics, but we are ready to do it fairly quickly.”
But in the event of an agreement at the end of the day on Friday: “We as managers will do it if the school service center asks us to meet urgently on Monday to open the schools,” said Mr. Prévost.