Despite its resolution, Federation of Autonomous Education (FAE) President Melanie Hubert notes that the 2023 Indefinite General Strike (GGI) has left its aftermath. “We have concerns about the future,” he admitted at a press conference in Montreal on Monday morning.
Mrs. Hubert said he understoodBitterness
there disappointment
And this Anger
Many teachers who accepted the agreement in principle reached an end with Quebec over the holidays.
We did not have the understanding teachers Eligibility
She explained what worked and agreed For 11 months
has The demands of the employer must be reframed without actually succeeding in asserting the demands of the teachers, however reasonable they may be
.
“We faced an employer side who negotiated very tightly,” Ms. Hubert continued. We couldn't go that far [l’]We would have liked and the least we can say is that we started from very, very far.
In recent weeks, five of the nine unions have joined unions FAE Accepting the agreement in principle, four rejected it. Those who voted for it gave it lukewarm support. The last to decide, the Haute-Yamaska Teachers Union (SEHY), for example, accepted it last week with 50.58%.
The polling results of recent weeks show us this […] : We do not face massive support for an agreement in principle that fully satisfies all our members, but we understand this very well.
Ms. Hubert made the commitment on Monday.
However, the president of the federation promised Keep up the struggles
From here Next round of negotiations
. Work must continue
Especially to ease the work of teachers and protect government schools, he underlined.
We are looking forward, Ms. Hubert pointed out, and we'll work to ensure that we use less of what's there. […] That we can get the maximum teachersBut also for students.
Public schools are suffering, the teaching profession is suffering, “teachers” are suffering, people know it and most of all know that things have to change.
Melanie Hubert spoke on Monday for the first time since the Dec. 28 agreement was submitted to members for approval. FAE. He promised to complete his term as president which ends in June 2025.
As for the inevitable strategic post-mortem of the federation, it drowned out 40% of Quebec teachers. GGI For five weeks without them benefiting from the strike fund, Ms. Hubert felt it was still too late to draw any conclusions.
However, she argued Struggle
was required
. We have often said that no one is going to fight this war [à la place des enseignants]
According to whom, Mrs. Hubert begged The collective agreement became the first gateway to demand concrete improvement of services
.
This strategy The strike also had a positive effect on the people behind us
she argued.
The deal was officially approved on Wednesday
there GGI of FAEFrom Nov. 23 to Dec. 28, hundreds of thousands of students in Montreal, Laval, Capital-National, Outaois, Monterrey and Lower Laurentians and the Granby region were out of class for 22 days.
Since then, Education Minister Bernard Trinville has set up a voluntary catch-up program, but few teachers have raised their hands to participate, according to the Federation of Quebec School Directors (FQDE).
In principle Quebec and the FAE It will be officially recognized by the Federation Council on Wednesday. Meanwhile, the polls continue till February 19, including affiliated unions, on the General Front side ESF–CSQ60% of Quebec teachers are represented.
With information from the Canadian Press
