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Unionized workers ramped up pressure tactics on Friday morning in Quebec’s early childhood centres, or Centres de la petite enfance (CPE).
Government daycares employing FIPEQ union members opened 30 minutes later than usual at 7:30 a.m. Next Friday, Nov. 22, the plan calls for them to be opened at 8:30 a.m., then 10 a.m. on Nov. 29 and noon on Dec. 6.
The Federation of Early Childhood Workers (FIPEQ), affiliated with the CSQ, represents 3,000 workers in daycare centres in Quebec.
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“No one wants to go on strike, no one wants to delay the opening of the service this morning. We’d rather be with our little ones. But we need better working conditions because, in a few years’ time, the network is going to be in a critical state, if we don’t act now. So we’re calling on the government to answer the call and table an improved offer,” said FIPEQ president Anne-Marie Bellerose in an interview this week.
Working conditions are at the core of the labour dispute. Demands mainly revolve around salary increases and other ways to bring more recognition and better value to the profession, as the government grapples with a shortage of places in daycares across Quebec.
“Among our objectives, we must improve access to childcare services and offer quality services to a greater number of children. We want to attract and retain teachers and encourage their training,” said the office of Sonia LeBel, president of the Treasury Board.
As for “optimizing” existing resources, given the shortage of female workers, the Treasury Board says “there is no question of forcing teachers to work 40 hours a week, but of allowing those who want to do more, on a voluntary basis, to be able to do so.”
The FIPEQ complains that it was not offered a 17.4-per-cent increase over four years, the same increase that was granted to government employees.
“The 17.4-per-cent increase granted to the common front was based on compensation in terms of flexibility in work organization, which has a real impact on services,” the Treasury Board said.
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