Early childhood educators strike deal: receive an 18% increase in salary

Sophie Demers

 

 

Early childhood service workers agreed to 93% of the proposed collective agreement by the government ending the strike that had been ongoing since December 1. Early childhood service workers in Centre de Petite Enfance (CPEs) in the 13 regions of Quebec, including the Outaouais, held general assemblies with the Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux, Confédération des syndicats nationaux (FSSS-CSN) between December 9 to 11. All 11,000 workers in the early childhood education sector in Quebec returned to work on December 13.
“The general assembly overseeing the proposed agreements went very well, everyone is happy with the results which is why CPE workers voted in favor of the agreement,” says Najoua Zitouni, Vice-President of Negotiations at CSN and spokesperson for the early childhood education workers.
The representatives of the FSSS-CSN obtained a salary increase of 18% for qualified and specialized educators, as well as increases between 8% and 12.5% for other jobs in the field. The government initially offered only 6%. Members of the FSSS-CSN will also obtain a recognition bonus equivalent to 3% of their hours worked between April 1, 2020 and March 31, 2021.
Other notable components of the collective agreement is the recovery of two additional statutory holidays and the creation of a committee whose mandate is to identify the main difficulties experienced by educators in the integration of children with special needs.
"We hope that the progress made thanks to our combativeness will ensure the sustainability of the network and convince the workers to stay there. The question of the ratios of children to educators remains unanswered, however, Minister Lacombe has said he is ready to work with us to find a solution to this problem. We will therefore continue to carry out this fight on another ground in order to obtain satisfaction,” says Lucie Longchamps, vice-president of the FSSS-CSN
“We are infinitely thankful to the parents, citizens and the media for their support and coverage throughout the strike” says Zitouni.