Workers at some 60 public daycares (CPEs) in Montreal and Laval have accepted, by a margin of 96 per cent, an agreement in principle that was reached at the end of April between their union and the Association patronale nationale des centers de la petite enfance (APNCPE).
The CPEs, which manage 83 facilities in Montreal and Laval, employ 1,500 workers.
The union had recommended that they approve the agreement in principle.
Last December, the government of Quebec reached an agreement with unions representing CPE workers.
However, the employer association affiliated with the daycares in Montreal and Laval was not at the national bargaining table and wanted to negotiate its own collective agreement.
Three issues were holding up those negotiations: the length of the workweek, job division and questions surrounding committee selection and tenure.
The Syndicat des travailleuses des Centres de la petite enfance de Montréal et de Laval (STCPEML) asserts Friday that, in addition to an 18 per cent wage catch-up for educators, union members made grounds regarding their breaks, decisions affecting their groups of children, schedule stability and work-life balance.
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on May 27, 2022.
