The long-running labor conflict between Quebec and hundreds of thousands of public sector workers may be coming to an end. After weeks of strikes, the provincial government and Quebec's largest teachers' union made a breakthrough at the negotiating table.
On Wednesday night, the FAE, a teachers' union representing about 66,000 teachers across the province who have been on strike indefinitely, said it had reached a preliminary agreement with the government on pay and working conditions.
Quebec Finance Commission Chairman Sonia LeBel and Education Minister Bernard Drainville's office said they had reached a consensus on working conditions and wages.
Sylvain Martel, head of the Quebec Parents' Home Council, said: "Yes, it's a relief. I received letters from parents a week before Christmas, and they were desperate. ”
The committee represents the parents of about 200,000 French and English students. However, details of the proposed agreement have not yet been announced. The union said the tentative agreement would be submitted to the FAE committee.
Before it can be voted on by union members, the committee must decide whether this is an agreement in principle "It will be up to the committee to decide whether this is an agreement in principle in response to the urgent needs of teachers and their students," FAE president Mélanie Hubert said in a press release. "The agreement, if passed, would put an end to the indefinite strike.
Some 800 schools have been forced to close since the Quebec teachers' union began its strike on November 23, leaving 368,000 students at home. "The 66,500 members of the FAE have just spent 22 days on the streets without pay in order to express their demands," said Mélanie Hubert, president of the FAE, in a press release. We will respect our democratic process and then say more. ”
For former union leader Marc Ranger, this development means the worst is behind us. "I am very confident that we will be able to end the indefinite general strike," Ranger said. ”