Author: The Record
Published November 28, 2023

Common Front public sector unions to strike again Dec. 8 – 14, local teachers’ unions react

By William Crooks

Local Journalism Initiative

The Common Front public sector unions (CSQ, FTQ, CSN and APTS) announced Nov. 28 that they plan to strike again from Dec. 8 – 14; their last strike lasted from Nov. 21 – 23. If this new pressure does not result in an acceptable agreement with the government at the negotiating table, a future unlimited strike is expected. A separate teachers’ union, the Fédération Autonome de L’Enseignement (FAE), has been on an unlimited strike since Nov. 23, affecting the functioning of three Eastern Townships School Board (ETSB) schools: Sutton Elementary, Massey-Vanier High School, and Campus Brome-Missisquoi, a vocational training centre.

“For teachers it only means five days,” said Brigitte Robert, Champlain Lennoxville SECCL union president. Teachers don’t have classes on the weekends, but other members of the Common Front are working, like healthcare workers, she noted. Nearing the end of the term, two days of classes are being lost: Friday, Dec. 8 and Monday, Dec. 11.

The English Exit Exam was scheduled for Dec. 13 and must now be rescheduled. Dec. 14 was meant to be an exam day and will also need to be made up for. Any future changes to the calendar would be decided upon by the CEGEP’s governing board, but teachers are available between Christmas and New Year’s, or after the holidays, she explained. Robert speculated that make-up nights and weekends could also be an option.

Robert emphasized that this new seven-day strike sequence was to “put pressure” on the government at the negotiating table to reach an agreement before Christmas. A future unlimited general strike could take place in January. They wish to be “flexible” and give the government time to consider its options.

Champlain teachers are paid $120 per day they are on strike, which comes out of the union funds constituted by union dues automatically taken out of their paycheques. They have been saving money for “quite a while”, Robert said, but their fund is depleting quickly. She does not think this will be a mobilization obstacle for union members; members of other Common Front unions have no strike-related income at all.

“We are using the strike as a means to our ends,” she said, but the sacrifice is worth it to ensure good public services for their students, whose success they have at heart.

The three ETSB schools disrupted by the FAE strike, because they share campuses with a French service centre, the employees of which are FAE members, are dealing with the situation as ETSB Appalachian Teachers’ Association (ATA) President April Blampied predicted last week: students are staying home and teachers are “tele-working” – emailing, talking to parents and posting online workbooks. There are no real alternative options for students without internet access.

The ATA is part of the Common Front, so its teachers will also be on strike from Dec. 8 to 14. “There is no talk of adding extra days,” Blampied said, to make up for this lost week. ATA teachers have no strike-related income. An unlimited strike, therefore, would be quite economically disruptive. She says she can feel the tension and the worries teachers are having, especially losing pay so close to the holiday season. Because the ATA is part of the Common Front, they do not have the option to not strike when everyone else does. Blampied is not sure if teachers are allowed to work another job while they are on strike.

The timing of the week that will be missed makes things complicated, she acknowledged, but she does not think students will ultimately lose much “content”. It would have been better if it were the week right before the holiday break.

Blampied wished to remind the teachers that they should support each other, though they may differ in their opinions on strike days. In the long run, she continued, every single strike their union has ever had has added money to their salary, which affects their entire career’s earnings. “This is for the long term.”

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