The announcement on Friday morning of a proposed sectoral agreement between the Federation of Education Unions (FSE-CSQ) and the Legault government sparked outrage among dozens of FAE union teachers who have been on strike for more than four weeks and are still not receiving pay.
• Also read: A regulation proposal for the FSE-CSQ is on the table
On the Autonomous Education Association's Facebook page, many of them challenged their union, calling the current strategy a “failure” and stressing that members had been “sacrificed.”
Here are some comments collected on the FAE site.
“The FAE is the modern Titanic. It believed itself to be unsinkable and had not even planned enough lifeboats for all its members. There is no way she escaped the iceberg because she wanted to move too quickly and start an unlimited general strike. The boat is sinking. Do you remember how quickly the Titanic sank to the bottom of the ocean? It's time for the FAE to stop. The FAE sacrificed its own members,” writes one member of the site.
Others are calling for the leadership of union leaders.
“I vote for all FAE union leaders, starting with Mélanie Hubert, to resign, including the chairmen of local bodies. We were cheated. “The unlimited general strike was never mentioned in the strike vote on May 15,” says a teacher.
Many are calling for an end to the strike.
“Agreement in principle with the FSE this morning. Let's put an end to this ridiculous strike that's accomplishing nothing and negotiate while we get back to class. It is a collective agreement that you are negotiating, not a transformation of the education system,” writes another teacher.
Some members are even considering leaving the FAE.
“We will go down in history as the weakest and least strategic organization in this round of negotiations. I vote to change the association as soon as possible. My assessment is done, all alone, we are too weak! A return to the CSQ is out of the question, we still have to choose between the CSN and the FTQ! For my part, I made the choice!”
The president of the FAE, Mélanie Hubert, reacted to the events in a video publication to reassure her members. She indicated that negotiations would be intensified.
“The management side is trying to impose their vision on us, despite all the suggestions we could make, especially on the tasks by June 30th, the creation of new permanent positions.” Vocational training was still attacked in the last employer proposal, and we know that this is a big one problem,” she said.
The FAE says it remains committed to reaching an agreement “but not at any cost”.