Faced with the prospect of an indefinite general strike that could last until Christmas, a teacher from the Federation of Autonomous Education (FAE) says she is “concerned” about the lack of strike funding for union members.
The FAE, which represents 65,000 teachers, has been on indefinite general strike since Thursday.
40% of Quebec public schools are closed indefinitely, while teaching staff remain unpaid.
One teacher – who spoke to TVA Nouvelles on condition of anonymity – is demanding more transparency from her union.
The latter, “like many colleagues”, wonders the reasons justifying the lack of strike funds.
“I am worried about the lack of strike funds. This concerns me because we contribute about $1,000 a year to our union. I tell myself that I have contributed more than 20,000 dollars in the 20 years I have been working,” he noted.
“There are a lot of people who are worried because they are single, they have a child, and not all families have two incomes.”
PHOTO AGENCY QMI, JOEL LEMAY
He adds that he has a lot of questions about sending contributions that represent several “millions of dollars.”
The author says that other union members of the education network, the General Front members, are holding the strike fund.
However, these union members are not on an indefinite general strike.
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“I ask the question frankly. I want the union to be transparent about this. What did they do with these millions of dollars accumulated over the years?” she asks.
In an interview with journalist Philippe Bessette, the woman said she saw her colleague in tears because she was afraid of what would happen next.
The teachers expressed their griefTuesday, over the prospect of living without pay during an indefinite general strike.
Election of Members
For her part, Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre, president of the Montreal Professors Alliance, points out that it was FAE members who made the decision not to have a strike basis.
In an interview with LCN, he explains, “It’s a discussion we have from time to time. We’ve done analysis on several occasions and the decision we’ve made has nothing to do with our union’s position of representing only a quarter of employment for all sorts of technical and practical reasons.
“We support our members in this, we know it’s not easy,” he adds. It should also be remembered that more than 98% of our members voted to hold this indefinite general strike knowing that we have no strike funds. It says a lot about the determination of the teachers at this point.
The Federation of Teachers is a part of the Autonomous Education Federation.
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