Quebec Public Schools Closed for Indefinite Strike by Teachers

All public schools will be closed from Tuesday for three days and 40% will be closed for an indefinite period due to an unlimited general strike by 65,000 teachers, a first in Quebec in 40 years. The parents concerned will have to be patient: the strike could be long, according to stakeholders consulted by The newspaper.

• Read also: Unlimited strike in education: parents are preparing for a real headache

• Read also: Schools in several school service centers closed for an indefinite period from November 21

• Read also: “The negotiation is not moving forward”: last hope before the launch of an indefinite strike of teaching staff

All public schools in the province will be closed next week for at least three days, November 21, 22 and 23, due to the strike by school staff represented by the Common Front.

On Thursday, November 23, teachers affiliated with the Autonomous Federation of Education (see details below) will, however, launch an unlimited general strike, failing to have reached an agreement with the Legault government by then.

This scenario became very real on Tuesday for thousands of parents in service centers in Montreal, Pointe-de-l’Île and the Capital who received an email notice informing them of the suspension of classes from the 21st. November “for an indefinite period”.

It is only a matter of days before other parents in Laval, Quebec, Outaouais, Laurentides and Montérégie receive the same notice.

• Listen to the political meeting with Yasmine Abdelfadel and Marc-André Leclerc via QUB radio :

A “historic” walkout

This will be a “historic” walkout, according to the FAE, since the last indefinite general strike of teachers dates back to 1983.

“But what is different from what happened 40 years ago is that this time, teachers are fighting for the survival of public services […] because they believe that student services have deteriorated to such an extent that there are no other solutions to change things,” says the president of the FAE, Mélanie Hubert.

In the office of the President of the Treasury Board, Sonia LeBel, we claim to have already put on the table “concrete solutions” to reduce the workload of teachers and improve the quality of educational services, such as adding assistance to part-time classes in 15,000 primary school groups and the implementation of pilot projects in secondary schools. The objective is to reach an agreement “before the holidays”, we repeat.

Two to three weeks of strike?

The latest offer presented by Quebec, however, is still very far from union demands. In schools, where the shortage of teachers is hurting, people are fed up and teachers are more mobilized than ever, it is said.

Many are even trying these days to “go through material” faster than expected in class, anticipating “several days of strike”, we told the Journal.

The positions of the two parties seem so irreconcilable at present that the conflict could even last “easily two to three weeks,” according to a source who was involved for several years in the negotiations of the school network, on the management side.

This source also considers that the government’s offer (which provides for basic salary increases of 10.3% over five years and a lump sum of $1,000) “does not make sense” in the current context, while Quebec always demands compromises in the organization of teachers’ work.

“Normally, flexibility has to be paid for. There, they want to have it easy and keep their money,” says this source who refused to be identified.

The battle of public opinion

The outcome of this negotiation could also be decided on the ground of public opinion, recalls Thierry Giasson, professor of political communication at Laval University.

After the upheavals imposed by the pandemic, union members in the health and education networks “seem to be winning at the moment” in terms of public communication, benefiting from “relatively significant support among the population,” he says. -he cautiously.

The level of satisfaction of the Legault government is also declining, which represents a “trump card for the unions”, he adds.

But each additional day of strike could also tilt public opinion in the camp of the Legault government, warns Mr. Giasson.

However, Quebec also has an interest in arriving at a negotiated solution, adds this expert, especially after having repeatedly repeated that education remains “its big priority”.

Which schools will be closed due to the strike next week?

November 21, 22 and 23

• All public primary and secondary schools
• Occasional strike by the Common Front, which represents the vast majority of school staff, including 60% of teachers in the province

From November 23

• 40% of public primary and secondary schools
• Unlimited general strike by the Autonomous Education Federation (FAE), which represents 40% of teachers in the province

Here are the regions and school service centers affected by the FAE strike:

• Montreal region (Montreal, Pointe-de-l’Île, Marguerite-Bourgeoys, Laval)
• Quebec Region (Capital and First Lordships)
• Outaouais region (Portages-de-l’Outaouais, Draveurs, Cœur-des-Vallées)
• Montérégie and Laurentides region (Trois-Lacs, Val-des-Cerfs, Mille-Îles)