Connor Lalande, reporter

Funded by the Local Journalism Initiative

Two unions representing teachers at Pontiac schools
have announced they will be holding simultaneous
strikes on Nov. 6.
The announcement follows members of both the
Syndicat du personnel de l’enseignement des Hautes-
Rivières (SPEHR) and the Western Quebec Teachers
Association (WQTA) unions voicing nearly unanimous
approval of a strike action earlier in October.
Negotiations are ongoing and the possibility of
an agreement being made prior to Nov. 6th remains.
Nevertheless, union representatives say the strike action
has been a long time coming.
“The time was deemed appropriate for the strike
by the Common Front and the SPEHR because the
government offers have not moved for nearly a year
after the filing of our requests and despite numerous
negotiation meetings,” said SPEHR communications
representative Audrey-Anne Gagnon of the strikes’
timing.
The SPEHR demands include the improvement of
class composition and salary that is in line with inflation.
SPEHR represents the francophone teachers of the
Hauts-Bois-de-l’Outaouais School Service Centre , the
school board that administers francophone schools and
education centres in the MRC Pontiac.
Anne Gagnon said that the union represents “about
80 people in the Pontiac,” and that all francophone
schools in the region will be affected.
SPEHR declined to comment on the specific actions
members will take during the Nov. 6 strike action.

In response to SPEHR’s strike announcement, the
Hauts-Bois-de-l’Outaouais service centre posted a
statement to their website on Oct. 27 saying the school
board was aware of the union’s labour action.
“Currently, various scenarios are being evaluated
regarding the continuation or suspension of our services
in the event of a strike,” the statement read.
The school service centre vowed to keep parents and
guardians informed on any updates as they occur.
WQTA, which represents over 500 teachers across
33 different schools and centres in the Western Quebec
School Board, will simultaneously be holding labour
actions on Nov.6.
WQTA is one of 10 unions that represent teachers in
the English sector in Quebec.
The 10 unions collectively make up the Quebec
Provincial Association of Teachers (QPAT). All ten
unions will be participating in the November 6 labour
actions.
“This is an attempt to kickstart negotiations that
are currently stalled,” wrote WQTA President Brian
Smeltzer in an email to THE E QUITY .
“We deposited our demands a year ago. . . there has
been no movement in the negotiations.”
The union’s demands, published by the union
collective on Oct. 31 of last year, focus on a number of
factors such as the professional autonomy of teachers
and the attraction and retention of staff.
Class composition and workload are also central
concerns of the unions.

All the English schools in the region of the Outaouais and the
English schools in the Abitibi – Temiscaming will be picketing
outside their buildings until 10:30 a.m.,” wrote Smeltzer, detailing
the plans for Nov. 6. “The teachers will then report to their buildings
for work,” he wrote. “The strike is indicated from midnight to 10:30 a.m.,
however the teachers will be outside,off school grounds, a half
hour before the start of the day until 10:30.” In response to QPAT’s strike
action, the Western Quebec School Board has announced
that it will be cancelling all educational services on Nov. 6.
In a letter to parents distributed on Oct. 27, the WQSB wrote it
had decided to “cancel all classes, transportation, and daycare
services” throughout the board and that it would inform parents
“should there be any changes in the situation.”
Common front across Quebec Strike actions by SPEHR and
WQTA are part of a broader labour movement taking place
across the province. Common Front, a coalition of several of Quebec’s
largest public service union federations, is in the process of a collective bargaining
negotiation with the provincial government over wages and working conditions.
Common Front represents some 420,000 workers in the sectors of healthcare, education
and social services. Both SPEHR and WQTA are a part of broader public service
unions represented by Common Front and are moving in solidarity
with the coalition. According to Common Front, if
its “message isn’t heard, a second strike action sequence may be
organized.”