Province-wide protest by public servants

Laurent Robillard-Cardinal

Due to the Common Front strike, the Western Quebec School Board (WQSB) have cancelled classes in all their schools and centres on October 26. On the same day, more than 130,000 Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) union members and their Common Front partners were on strike in various regions across Québec including Outaouais.

This past September, the Western Quebec Teachers’ Association (WQTA) voted 96.7% in favour of the six day strike mandate proposed by the Common Front.

This movement regroups several unions from across Québec including the CSQ, who are working in close partnership with the Fédération des syndicats de l’enseignement (FSE) and the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers (QPAT). WQTA is a local QPAT branch.

Unless progress is made at the negotiating table, more than 400,000 Common Front members will stop working on a rotating basis across all regions in Québec. This is a likely situation because according to the CSQ Union talks between the employer side and workers are stalling.

“One year of negotiations has passed since union demands were tabled and talks with the government, regarding several important issues, remain at a stalemate,” indicated the CSQ Union.

If talks continue to fail, the Common Front movement could increase pressure as of November 9. These activities will “create economic turmoil in the regions.” The sticking points are class sizes, working conditions, and the classification of students with learning difficulties. Teacher salary is also of concern.

The government offered teachers a freeze on the first two years of their collective agreement and a 1% increase for the last three years.

The yearly salary increase for the former collective agreement was 0.5 %, 0.75%, 1%, 1.75% and 2% for the fifth year. Average annual inflation between 2010 and 2015 reached 1.55% according to the Bank of Canada. The former collective agreement expired at the end of March.