Negotiations at the Cree School Board – Education unions to strike 

 With no significant progress in negotiations and talks dragging on at the Cree School Board table, the Association des employés du Nord québécois (AENQ-CSQ) and the Syndicat des professionnelles et professionnels en milieu scolaire du Nord-Ouest (SPPMSNO-CSQ) have announced they will carry out their strike mandates at the end of the month.

Teachers will be on strike in all the Board’s schools on September 25, 26 and 27. School support staff will be on strike on October 1, 2 and 3. Education professionals will be on strike on October 4, 7 and 8. Strike notices were filed yesterday evening.

Education negotiations were concluded in southern Quebec months ago, but there is still no agreement in principle for northern workers.

Last June, members of both unions voted in favor of a strike mandate that could be triggered at any time in the fall if discussions at the Cree School Board negotiating tables were not making any significant progress.

“These negotiations are painful, just like our labour relations with the school board. The employer is completely closed to negotiating and talks are stagnating. Once again, it’s the workers in the North who are paying the price. It’s incomprehensible that it’s come to this, especially when there are so many crucial needs and attracting and retaining personnel is so difficult,” says Larry Imbeault, President of the Association des employés du Nord québécois, the union representing teaching and support staff.

“Our members are fed up; we need to reach an agreement. Everyone is being penalized by the current situation, both staff and educational services. Our demands are legitimate, these delays and refusals to negotiate are unacceptable, and we want a fair and equitable agreement. All Quebec students, whether in the North or South, deserve the same services. It’s distressing to see history repeat itself again and again,” adds Kathy Germain, interim President of the Syndicat des professionnelles et professionnels en milieu scolaire du Nord-Ouest.

Both unions say that, in the interests of all concerned, they are prepared to do everything in their power to resolve the impasse. “Our negotiating teams are obviously available, but we can’t avoid such measures in the current climate. It’s going to take willpower and mandates to resolve this,” conclude the two spokespersons.