(Montreal) Members of Quebec unions affiliated with the Fédération du personal de support scolaire (FPSS-CSQ) voted during general meetings on Thursday for work stoppages that could extend to an indefinite general strike.
Posted at 6:18 am
School support staff make up 40% of the people working in schools in Quebec.
The President of the Federation, Éric Pronovost, explains that after almost a year of negotiations, the members wanted to send a strong signal. Mr Pronovost criticized Education Minister Bernard Drainville for not heeding the requests of school support staff.
Trade unions report problems with staffing shortages, particularly caused by a lack of full-time positions, disrupted schedules and problems balancing work and family life. Éric Pronovost believes that these issues are currently affecting employee retention.
The association will monitor the outcome of the votes of the other member unions of the Common Front before determining the continuation of its means of action.
Meanwhile, the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) is responding coldly to offers made this week by the employer bargaining committees representing French-language school service centers, English-language school boards and colleges to renew collective support agreements for school and college employees University support staff.
CUPE spokeswoman Marie-Claude Arbor regrets that these offers do not contain anything to address the labor shortage or to promote recruitment in the education and higher education sectors.
As for the request of the Chairwoman of the Ministry of Finance, Sonia Lebel, to significantly reduce the number of requests from each party in order to give priority to the most important and thus increase the chances of reaching an agreement, the trade union side reiterates that it will do so soon present prioritized concerns.
The tour of general meetings of union members must be completed this Friday. The Joint Front will then take stock of the situation.