
The strike of the early childhood centers affiliated with the FSSS – CSN continues. Until Wednesday, in Sept-Îles and Baie-Comeau, educators organize lookouts in front of the offices of Kateri Champagne Jourdain and Yves Montigny.
We are on strike for three days to have better working conditions
explains the president of the CPE workers’ union in Sept-Îles, François Marceau.

Open in full screen
François Marceau has been an educator in CPE for over 20 years.
Photo: Radio-Canada / Alban Normandin
The salary question is at the heart of requests. Since the start of the labor conflict, union members in Sept-Îles have been claiming an 8 %retention bonus.
The question of leave remains also worrying for the union representative. You need a network vacation
says Marceau. If an educator from Montreal moves to Sept-Îles and that she has five weeks of vacation, she will go back to zero if she is hired here.
Gains on these two fronts could encourage retention and curb the exodus of workers to the public system, he said.

Open in full screen
Parents accompanied by their children came to support the educators of the CPEs on strike, in Sept-Îles.
Photo : Radio-Canada / Marc-Antoine Mageau
Asked about the disturbances caused for parents, François Marceau defends the employee’s strike. According to him, it is by fighting for better conditions that the CPE network will ultimately avoid service interruptions that would penalize families.
Ten CPEs are affected by this disengagement in the region.
The Government of Quebec and the FSSSwhich is affiliated with the CSN have been negotiating in a sustained way for a few days, but have still not reached an agreement.
Quebec refused to comment on the pressure means of union members.