Daycare union files bad faith bargaining complaint against CAQ

The collective agreements for some public daycare (CPE) workers expired a year ago, and according to one federation, Quebec has yet to table an offer.

The Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance (FIPEQ-CSQ) has filed a complaint against the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) government for failing to negotiate in good faith.

The complaint, filed with the Administrative Labour Tribunal, targets Quebec Family Minister Suzanne Roy, Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel and the employers' association.

FIPEQ is asking the tribunal to declare that the two ministers and the employers failed to negotiate diligently and in good faith, thereby contravening the Labour Code.

The federation is also asking the tribunal to order the two ministers and the employers to submit a schedule of negotiation meetings, starting in May and ending in December, within 10 days of the possible issuance of an order.

FIPEQ also wants the ministers and the employers to table their offers within 20 days of the possible issuance of the order.

In an interview with the Canadian Press, FIPEQ President Valérie Grenon said she was disappointed.

"As I speak, we don't have a date for negotiations in the next few weeks or months," she said.

FIPEQ says it tabled its demands in September 2023 after the collective agreements expired on March 31, 2023, at the same time as others in the public sector.

Quebec's proposals have still not been tabled.

"We're hoping that just the announcement of the complaint will get the government moving and that we won't have to go to a decision," said Grenon. "If we have to go to a decision, we'll go to a decision, and we're going to keep up our pressure tactics to get things moving."

She says her members "are ready to mobilize, even to the point of going on strike."

Grenon adds that if Quebec doesn't table its offers by the end of April, she may seek mandates for stronger pressure tactics, including strike action.

Opposition parties in Quebec City were swift to respond to allegations of bad faith by the CAQ.

"The government seems to send the message that it does not believe in the public service when it comes to education, health care, child care," said Joel Arseneau, Parti Québécois (PQ) official opposition member responsible for public daycares. "You're trying to negotiate, in a very cheap manner, the working conditions of the public servants while you see that they're fleeing the public sector."

FIPEQ represents more than 11,000 members in childcare services.

When asked in February about the absence of an offer several months after FIPEQ submitted its demands, LeBel said she was waiting for the other unions representing childcare workers to submit their demands.

"The government must wait until it has all the union proposals before filing, because we won't have different filings for each of the unions," LeBel replied.

FIPEQ replied to LeBel, saying nothing prevents the government from negotiating the normative clauses.

The Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) and Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ) represent thousands of childcare workers through their affiliated unions.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 11, 2024.