65,000 Quebec teachers to launch indefinite strike Nov. 23
CTV
Some 65,000 teachers in Quebec will begin their indefinite general strike on Nov. 23 as their unions decry "suffering" among staff and "incomprehension" in government.
Some 65,000 teachers in Quebec will begin their indefinite general strike on Nov. 23 as their unions decry "suffering" among staff and "incomprehension" in government.
The teachers are part of the Fédération autonome de l'enseignement (FAE). They primarily work at French service centres and had given their union executives a strike mandate back in September. The strike date was decided during a union meeting on Thursday.
"Teachers are sending a clear and strong message to the government: the countdown has begun," FAE President Melanie Hubert wrote in a press release, originally published in French.
She says she recognizes the effect the strike will have on parents but that the union has been pushed to its limit.
"The consequences of the government's incomprehension of the suffering of teachers and their desertion will lead to even more devastating consequences for the quality of education in the decades to come," she wrote.
Quebec's latest offer includes a 10.3-per-cent salary increase over five years and a one-time payment of $1,000 to each worker.
The offer also includes more money for workers and shifts the government says are priorities, such as nurses working nights and weekends and teachers' aides in primary schools. Workers who earn less than $52,000 a year would also receive an additional one per cent increase.
