Sarah Rennie – LJI reporter

The picket signs, banners, and flags have been stowed for the moment, as local members of the Front commun have returned to work at Valley schools and heath care institutions after staging a three-day walkout last week in protest of lagging contract negotiations.

Nurses, auxiliary nurses, and other care professionals with the Fédération interprofessionnelle de la santé (FIQ) are also back at work after striking for two days last week. Only the teachers who are members of the Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE) remain on the picket line after launching an unlimited strike on November 23. This strike is not impacting local schools, however.

Nick Ross, the president of the Chateauguay Valley Teachers Association (CVTA), says the demonstrations in Ormstown and Chateauguay were well-attended, and he notes that the three-day strike was a new experience for many teachers. He says the pressure from the public sector strikes is starting to motivate the government to negotiate, while suggesting that the Front commun’s request for a conciliator worked well to quash government talking points that said the unions were not willing to negotiate.

“Hopefully we won’t have to continue along a progression towards a general strike,” Ross says, before confirming that as of press time, no further action is being planned by members of the Front commun.