Potential strike looms over daycare centres
Some 400 early childhood centres (CPES) could be facing a strike in the near future as some 11,000 female CPE workers have voted in favour of a sixday work stoppage at an as yet to be determined date.
"This is the strongest result of the strike vote in the CSN sector affiliated to the CSN," noted CSN President Jacques Létourneau at a press conference on Thursday in Quebec City, referring to the 94 per cent vote in favour of the strike mandate. "It's a demonstration of the widespread disenchantment of workers in this sector," he added.
The unionized members of the CSN have been without a contract since March 2015, and although most nonmonetary issues have largely been settled, negotiations are still stalled on the issues of salaries, pensions, group insurance, child / educator ratios, and the participation of women workers on boards of directors and at CPE meetings, among other things.
Létourneau stated that employees "face a real wall on the part of the employers' associations and the government" and he interprets support for the strike mandate as a willingness to "put additional pressure to unblock the negotiation".
The head of the CPE sector at the CSN, Louise Labrie, believes that the strategy is already paying off, saying she saw a new impetus at the bargaining table at a meeting last Tuesday.
"We came out quite satisfied) because the discussions are going well.
We think that what has happened in the last few months in general assemblies gives us a boost to unlock the mandates," she said.
Nearly 30 negotiating sessions have taken place since November 2016 and more are planned in the coming weeks.
The CSN criticizes the employers' side for seeking setbacks in the working conditions of its members, while Quebec is accumulating surpluses that should instead be reinvested in the network.
The CSN points out that the CPE network suffered cuts of over $300 million during the Liberal government's austerity years.
Their representatives assure us that they want to avoid a work stoppage, but not at any price.
"The high percentage of members supporting the strike vote shows us that women workers do not want to go back. It's done. We are digging our heels in and we are saying: “no, we won’t back off any longer," Labrie said.