MONTREAL --
Elementary and secondary teachers from major Quebec unions announced Thursday that they will walk out for part of the day on April 14.
"Our teachers are overwhelmed, they're exhausted, they're angry, they feel abandoned by this government. They feel neglected and it's time that this government starts putting money on the table in order to improve working conditions and salary of teachers in this province," said Heidi Yetman, president of the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers (QPAT), a major education union.
The walkout will take place from 12:01 a.m. to 9:30 a.m. on April 14.
This will be the first partial strike for 73,000 French and English teachers in preschool, elementary, secondary and vocational training classes.
The strike mandate on which they have already voted, like the other members of the CSQ (Centrale des syndicats du Quebec) union in the education sector, is a five-day strike to be exercised at the appropriate time.
Already, on March 30, the 10,000 members of the CSQ in the college sector held their first strike day. This time, the walkout involved not only teachers, but also professionals and support staff.
The CSQ represents the majority of teachers at the elementary and secondary levels; the others are unionized with the Federation autonome de l'enseignement (FAE) and are not affected by this strike.
The announcement of the walkout comes a day after Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel tabled a new offer to all public sector union members.
-- this report by The Canadian Press was first published April 1, 2021. With files from CTV News Montreal's Matt Grillo.
