Quebec makes another offer to teachers as strike approaches one-month mark

READ THE LATEST: Teachers' union calls government's latest offer a 'step backwards'

The Quebec government has made another offer to the teachers' unions as the strike has nears the one-month mark.

"Today, we are making an important formal submission to the unions representing teachers (FAE and FSE-CSQ/QPAT) with a view to reaching agreements," wrote a spokesperson for Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel in a statement Tuesday afternoon. "We'll let the unions have a look at it first, but we won't be commenting on it for the time being."

Teachers under the unions, largely in the French school network, have been on strike since Nov. 23.

The FAE, which represents 66,000 elementary and high school teachers, confirmed on social media that a new offer would be delivered in the afternoon, but declined to comment further. 

Mise à jour sur la négociation pic.twitter.com/jzKEZfPfuS

— FAE (@la_FAE) December 19, 2023

Before the new offer was announced, teachers staged a sit-in at government offices and once again marched through downtown with a clear message: they're not going away.

"We've had enough of them keeping us out of school, keeping students out of school, keeping parents held hostage. We've had enough, parents have had enough, we need to be back in schools," teacher Marion Miller told CTV News on Tuesday. 

To show how serious they are, teachers occupied the downtown office of the transport ministry.

"We're fighting for our working conditions, and also for the learning conditions of public school students," said Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre, president of the Alliance des professeures et professeurs de Montréal (APPM).

After nearly a month of striking, without pay, many Fédération Autonome de l'Enseignement (FAE) teachers say they are distraught.

"It's just been long. We're very tired, we've been walking, being outside the schools everyday for three, four hours every day, walking all around the city and nothing is moving. We're just very tired now," one teacher said.

They were bolstered by a new poll, however, that found 56 per cent of respondents support the teachers and that support rises to 63 per cent among parents.

"I think the government is losing the public support, because they’re seeing that it’s in their camp, they’re the ones dragging this out," Miller said. "We've moved at the table, we need them to move"

Alissa Gutman has been a teacher for the past 20 years. Her husband is also a teacher, and as much as she loves the job, she's now started a business, and is considering leaving teaching.

"It’s highly discouraging," she said Tuesday. "The income for teachers is proving to be unreliable and we're a family of four and I literally cannot afford to go without an income."

The hope is the government's newest offer will put an end to the strikes.