Education | Northern Quebec – Pressure tactics intensify as negotiations drag on

Dozens of education workers from the Cree and Kativik school boards are expressing their exasperation at the slow pace of negotiations. Demonstrations are being held in front of the Kativik School Board’s head office in Montreal, and in front of the schools, centers and head office of the Cree School Board.

While the texts of the collective agreements of school personnel across Quebec are close to being finalized, negotiations are ongoing and there is still no agreement for the renewal of the Northern collective agreements of the 2,000 teachers, support staff and professionals.

With summer vacations about to begin, these demonstrations aim to send a clear message to the two school boards and set the tone for what the next school year might look like.

Representatives of the three unions attending the demonstration point out that the employer party has yet to give their negotiators the mandates needed to move discussions forward. They deplore the fact that no progress has been made aside from the integration of the southern agreements. And yet negotiations are stalled precisely on the issues particular to the North.

This is not the first time that this has happened. In 2015 and 2021, negotiations also dragged on for months after they were concluded in the rest of Quebec. Representatives also point out that staff shortages are particularly crucial, putting immense pressure on existing staff and affecting the quality of services. And dragging out negotiations and penalizing staff will definitely not help to attract and retain more workers in the North. Even worse, a disparity in treatment could push some workers to leave for a job in a school service center in the South.

There is still no progress at the six teacher, support staff and professional negotiating tables in the North. Four of the six tables have been engaged in either the conciliation or mediation process for several weeks.

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“What we want is for something to happen at the tables! When the new school year begins, we are prepared to escalate mobilization and pressure tactics if necessary. Today we want the two school boards to understand that our members are losing patience, that this little game has lasted long enough. It is frankly shameful that Northern negotiations have once again come to this. This slowness in the negotiating process creates disparities and two categories of workers. For us, this is simply not acceptable. Colleagues working in the North are not second-class workers. Those who work in the North deserve the same treatment as the rest of Quebec!”

• Tuniq Makiuk, Association of Employees of Northern Quebec (AENQ-CSQ)
• Pier-Guy Taillefer, Syndicat du personnel professionnel de l’éducation du Nunavik et de l’ouest de Montréal (SPPENOM-CSQ)
• Tarek Khazen, Association of Employees of Northern Quebec (AENQ-CSQ)
• Annie Chartier, North-West School Professionals Union (SPPMSNO-CSQ).