Quebec union announces 3 more strike days for its 400 daycares if no agreement reached

Child-care educators at 400 publicly funded daycares, known as CPE's, were out on the picket line again on Tuesday for the 10th day. 

Workers outside CPE la Sourithèque in Montreal donned yellow T-shirts and signs, while others waved flags and made noise. Some parents also joined the fray, bringing their young children along, to show their support for the striking workers.

At a news conference held in front of the daycare, FSSS-CSN union representative Stéphanie Vachon announced three additional strike days planned for next week. 

Vachon told reporters that negotiations with the employers, the Family Ministry and the Quebec Treasury Board are ongoing, but salary remains a major sticking point. 

Vachon explained that while the government has offered a 17.4 per cent increase in salary over five years, and is holding firm on that number, there are other ways to address salary inequities within the public sector.

"A worker in the public sector who has the same qualifications as us is having a wage of $37 an hour and we're still at $35, with the offer on the table," she said. 

"We want to know what the government is going to do to resolve that problem."

Vachon said the CPE network is already short-staffed and she said she worries the next generation of educators will choose different careers if things don't change.

She believes that would hinder the network's ability to create much-need and long-awaited places in subsidized daycares.

In video message posted to X last week, Treasury Board President Sonia Lebel said having a quality network in the province for the good of parents and children is of utmost importance.

Lebel expressed optimism that a deal could be reached with the union and said the offers on the table were "generous and equitable."

Lebel also pointed to two other unions representing daycare workers that "had accepted these offers and said they were very proud of the advances that they had managed to obtain for educators."

In a written statement to CBC News on Tuesday, the Treasury Board Secretariat said the government would not comment on pressure tactics by the union, saying it is the union's choice to do as it pleases. 

The statement reiterated much of the same messaging as Lebel and added that the 17.4 per cent increase accepted by the CSQ et FTQ unions representing child-care workers were also the same increases that were "granted to 98 per cent of the public and para-public sector groups with which the government has already reached an agreement." 

Despite ongoing negotiations, Vachon said that if an agreement in principle isn't reached soon, the union is considering launching an unlimited general strike. 

"We have the mandate," she said. 

But even if it's on the table, it's not something daycare workers are keen to do. 

"We don't want to do that to the parents, we don't want to do that to ourselves because its a loss of revenue," said Rachel Castonguay, an educator at Sourithèque. 

"It's a perilous situation but it's that important."

Vachon also acknowledged the impact strike days can have on parents and thanked them for their continued support while also apologizing for any disruptions.