Dissatisfaction is growing against the agreement reached in principle between the Federation of Autonomous Education (FAE) and Quebec: the two affiliated unions rejected it late Thursday evening.
Meeting in a virtual general assembly, teachers of the Quebec Regional Education Union (SERQ) voted 60% against. The union represents approximately 9,000 teachers from school service centers in the capital and Prémières-Seigneuries and approximately 3,700 of them were present during the referendum.
Members of the Seigneurie Education Union (SES) also met on Thursday evening and in the evening voted 58% against the deal.
The SES represents approximately 900 secondary, vocational and adult education teachers from the Trois-Lacs school service center in Montérégie.
Four against, four against
The fate of the deal, which ended in late December after more than 20 days of strike action, looks hard to predict, with four unions so far ratifying the deal and another four rejecting it.
In order to be ratified, the agreement must be accepted in principle by a majority of unions affiliated to the FAE – which has nine members – and by a majority of the members it represents.
It is the teachers of Haute-Yamaska in Montérégie, the FAE's last local union, who will have the last word during their general assembly scheduled for January 31.
If the contract is rejected by a majority of members, teachers will not return to an indefinite general strike. The FAE must start fresh by consulting its faculty again on a new strategy and possible pressure tactics to return to the negotiating table.
The teachers were torn
The close results show how deeply the deal, reached at the end of December after more than 20 days of strike action, is dividing teachers.
In terms of salary, the proposed regulation offers an average salary increase of 21.5%, but it is above all the provisions surrounding the “mixing of classes” at the heart of union demands, leaving many teachers frustrated.
Votes of unions affiliated with the FAE on the agreement in principle:
FOR
Pointe-de-l'Île Education Union
CSS de la Pointe-de-l'Île
5300 members
Result: 59%
Montreal Teachers' Alliance
Montreal CSS
14,000 members
Result: 54%
Outois Education Union
CSS des Portages-de-l'Outauais, des Draveurs and Cœur-des-Vallées
6600 members
Result: 58%
West Montreal Teachers Association
CSS Marguerite-Burgeoys
8000 members
Result: 51%
vs
Laval Regional Education Union
Laval CSS
8000 members
Result: 68% against
Basses-Laurentides Education Union
Thousand Islands CSS
7900 members
Result: 72% against
Lordships Educational Union
CSS des trois-logs
900 members
Result: 58% against
Quebec Regional Education Union
CSS of Capital and First Lords
9000 members
Result: 60% Vs
The Autonomous Education Federation brings together nine affiliated unions.
Members of the Haute-Yasmaska Education Union in Montérégie will vote on January 31.
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