MONTREAL -- Striking daycare workers almost unanimously rejected the latest wage increase offer from the government in an informal vote.
The daycare strike made up of members of the Syndicat québécois des employés de service continued for a second day on Tuesday, with the CSQ revealing that 95 per cent of those who voted on whether to advance the payment of wage increases to educators rejected the offer.
The CSQ-affiliated Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance (FIPEQ) announced last week that it would hold a referendum on the issue after Quebec announced that it was prepared to increase the salaries of early childhood educators in part immediately.
The FIPEQ opened this consultation to everyone, even to those who were not unionized in the FIPEQ.
On Tuesday, the federation said 95 per cent of the 2,200 workers voted against the offer after consultation.
The referendum is not a formal vote on Quebec's offers. Negotiations are continuing and Treasury Board president Sonia LeBel announced last week that her offer would be improved.
In addition, unionized workers with the SQEES, affiliated with the FTQ, are on their second consecutive day of strike action on Tuesday in several regions of Quebec.
They are following in the footsteps of other childcare workers who are members of unions affiliated with the CSN, CSQ and QFL.
-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 19, 2021.
