Que. teachers' union to make counter-offer, indefinite strike continues
FAE union heads say they've refused Quebec's latest contract offer and plan to offer their own terms to end the widespread teachers' strike which stretched into its seventh day Friday.
"On Tuesday evening, November 28, the FAE received a new offer from the government which it analyzed rigorously," read a French-language release from the teachers' union.
However, the union says the province's offer did not "make it possible to suspend the unlimited general strike."
"So, this strike will continue on Monday," said union president Melanie Hubert during a Friday evening press conference in Montreal following two days of union meetings.
"On the other hand, the FAE remains determined to find a satisfactory agreement," she said. "The time spent over the past two days has been devoted to working on a counter-offer which will be tabled as quickly as possible at the negotiating table."
She said the union wants to continue talks over the weekend to "take advantage of these two days where the students do not miss school, where teachers are not deprived of salary."
Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel took to social media to express her disappointment.
"We are aware of the impacts of the strike on the students, and we are obviously disappointed," wrote LeBel in French. "But, we are committed to signing agreements for the benefit of students and staff, so we will continue our efforts to get there as quickly as possible." She said negotiations will continue over the coming days.
The announcement came on the heels of controversial remarks from Quebec Premier Francois Legault, who told reporters Friday that he has "a hard time living with the fact that our children aren't in school."
"What's happening now is bad for our children," said the premier. The union said Legault's words amount to "emotional blackmail."
"What's hurting public schools is the deterioration of the system which has been exacerbated since you've been in power," the union wrote in a social media post addressed to Legault.
The FAE, which stands for the Federation autonome de l'enseignement, represents 66,500 teachers at the primary and secondary levels. They've been on strike since Nov. 23, shutting around 800 schools across the province.
Quebec's remaining 95,000 teachers are members of the CSQ, which is part of the Common Front.
The Common Front held its own four-day strike in November and has since announced seven more strike days, which are expected to run from Dec. 8 to 14.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
Parents of infant who died in wrong-way crash on Ontario's Hwy. 401 were in same vehicle
Ontario’s Special Investigations Unit has released new details about a wrong-way collision in Whitby on Monday night that claimed the lives of four people.
Three Quebec men from same family father hundreds of children
Three men in Quebec from the same family have fathered more than 600 children.
B.C. mayor stripped of budget, barred from committees over Indigenous residential schools book
A British Columbia mayor has been censured by city council – stripping him of his travel and lobbying budgets and removing him from city committees – for allegedly distributing a book that questions the history of Indigenous residential schools in Canada.
OPP's mandatory alcohol screening during traffic stops 'not acceptable': CCLA
A spike in impaired driving-related collisions has caused Ontario’s provincial police to begin enforcing mandatory alcohol screening (MAS) at all traffic stops in the Greater Toronto Area -- a move one civil rights group says is ‘not acceptable.’
Maple Leafs down Bruins 2-1 to force Game 7
William Nylander scored twice and Joseph Woll made 22 saves as the Toronto Maple Leafs downed the Boston Bruins 2-1 on Thursday to force Game 7 in their first-round series.
Jurors in Trump hush money trial hear recording of pivotal call on plan to buy affair story
Jurors in the hush money trial of Donald Trump heard a recording Thursday of him discussing with his then-lawyer and personal fixer a plan to purchase the silence of a Playboy model who has said she had an affair with the former president.
Southern Alberta store broken into by burly black bear
Staff at a small southern Alberta office supply store were shocked to find someone had broken into the business last week, but they were even more confused when they discovered the culprit was a bear.
Captain sentenced to 4 years for criminal negligence in fiery deaths of 34 aboard scuba boat
A federal judge on Thursday sentenced a scuba dive boat captain to four years in custody and three years supervised release for criminal negligence after 34 people died in a fire aboard the vessel.
New scam targets Canada Carbon Rebate recipients
Fake text message and email campaigns trying to get money and information out of unsuspecting Canadian taxpayers have started circulating, just months after the federal government rebranded the carbon tax rebate the Canada Carbon Rebate.