CPE workers with the SQEES union will walk out for all of Dec. 4, 11 and 18.
A major union representing public daycare workers has announced three strike days on Wednesdays in December.
The Syndicat québécois des employé(e)s de service (SQEES) will walk out on full-day strikes Dec. 4, 11 and 18.
The strike mandate, adopted by more than 90 per cent by the members, provides for an unlimited general strike. But for the moment, only three days have been announced.
The SQEES has members in around 15 CPE daycares.
The Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance du Québec (FIPEQ), affiliated with the CSQ, launched its strike on Nov. 11 in family daycare services and on Nov. 15 in CPEs. The FIPEQ strike takes the form of a later opening of daycare services from week to week.
The Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux already has a five-day strike mandate in its pocket, but has not yet announced when its members will exercise it. The organization says it is focusing for the moment on negotiations with the Treasury Board.
The unions’ disputes with Quebec mainly concern salaries, but also workload and flexibility in terms of work organization.
The salary of a qualified educator is $21.60 per hour at the entry level.
“The salary offers from last May, 12.7 per cent over five years, do not hold water. What is on the table at the moment is nothing less than the impoverishment of our members who work in CPEs,” said SQEES president Sylvie Nelson.
The office of Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel has already indicated that while public employees had obtained a 17.4 per cent salary increase over five years, it was in return for more flexibility in order to offer better services to the population.
“Last Wednesday, at the negotiating table, we asked for a new submission for salaries. Unfortunately, nothing has changed. Without employer movement, dialogue is no longer possible. With the three days of strike to come, we hope that we will be taken seriously and that a new offer will be on the table,” Nelson said.
These three days of strike could well be just the beginning. “If nothing is done, in January we will intensify the frequency of strikes,” she said.
The Quebec government wants to open thousands of spaces in childcare services in order to meet demand. It therefore wants to “optimize” the resources in place. It is also facing a shortage of workers in childcare services.