Some Quebec daycares to open at 10 a.m. due to worker strike

A daycare centre in Langley, British Columbia, photographed on May 29, 2018. Quebec tabled its offers on Tuesday to the main union groupings representing workers in the Centres de la petite enfance. LA PRESSE CANADIENNE/Darryl Dyck

For the third week in a row, some 3,000 workers at daycares in Quebec are expected go on strike for a few hours this Friday.

The workers are members of the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) affiliated Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance (FIPEQ).

The CPEs affected are expected to open their doors at 10 a.m., with their strike mandate allowing them to open later and later each Friday.

Next week, doors will open at 12 p.m. if no progress is made.

The main points in the dispute are wages, workload and organization.

A qualified educator in an early childhood centre earns $21.60 an hour at the first echelon and $28.60 at the tenth echelon.

The unions representing workers in the CPEs argue they only received a wage increase offer of 12.7 per cent over five years from Quebec City, whereas other government employees were given 17.4 per cent over five years.

The Treasury Board points out that "the 17.4 per cent increase granted to the Common Front was based on quid pro quos in terms of flexibility in work organization, which have a real impact on services."

There is currently a shortage of childcare workers, with Quebec seeking to attract people to the field by opening thousands of spaces.

The FIPEQ, affiliated to the CSQ, also represents 9,000 educational childcare providers who work in family daycares.

They are opening later and later every day of the week.

Negotiations, which began in the spring, are continuing.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Nov. 29, 2024.