Quebec reaches tentative deal with major teachers' group
Deal includes 8,000 teachers working at English school boards, including EMSB and LBPSB
The Quebec government and one of the province's largest teachers' labour federations have reached an agreement-in-principle on non-monetary issues in their current dispute.
The Fédération des syndicats de l'enseignement (FSE) was negotiating alongside the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers (QPAT), which represents about 65,000 teachers across the province including 8,000 teachers who work in the province's English-language school boards.
"It's a good settlement. It's reasonable," said Richard Goldfinch, president of QPAT. "It actually brings some lightening of the teacher workload,"
Goldfinch said the association's leadership will recommend that its members accept the deal.
- Tens of thousands take to Montreal streets in latest public sector strike
- Public sector offer: Martin Coiteux still wants settlement 'within weeks'
- Quebec public sector worker strikes: Everything you need to know
Teachers have been without a collective agreement since April.
Teachers, along with other workers in the public sector still without a contract, have been holding rotating strike days throughout the fall as a way to protest against lagging negotiations.
Goldfinch said that only the non-monetary issues have been settled, and negotiators continue to discuss salary and pension issues.
"We know that they're hard at it right now. We expect that we should be hearing stuff within the next day or so on that, and if it doesn't happen then, I don't know if we will be able to do it before the holidays," he said.
The other main teaching group in Quebec, which is represented by the Fédération autonome de l'enseignement (FAE), is still without an agreement.
Its 34,000 members held three strike days last week.