MONTREAL -- Some 10,000 education workers will go on strike Thursday morning, including guidance counsellors, remedial teachers, computer analysts, librarians, and others.
They’re members of the Fédération des professionnels de l'éducation, affiliated with the Centrale des unions du Québec (CSQ), working in 69 French-language school service centers and English-language school boards in Quebec.
The CSQ's strike mandate allows for a five-day action. The federation will strike for just half a day, starting Thursday morning.
Union members are striking to pressure the government to continue contract negotiations on a collective agreement, which expired in March, 2020, according to federation President Jacques Landry.
“We hope to put pressure on the government. The strike is to attract attention,” he said. “It’s a way of saying, ‘can you take us seriously?’”
On top of delayed negotiations, workers are divided between three, four, five or even seven schools, says Landry, while many occupy part time positions, or yearly contracts.
With salary differences between the public and private sectors, some workers are being driven to private schools, he says.
Staff shortages are posing problems for students, according to Landry. At one school, he says, only two speech therapist positions out of 10 are filled. At another, he says, a guidance councillor went on maternity leave for two years, and was never replaced.
There are “students with needs,” he said. “Who will help them?”
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published on April 28, 2021
