‘Relief’: Quebec reaches tentative deal with teachers, public sector workers

Quebec has reached tentative deals with hundreds of thousands of public sector workers after weeks of strikes, school shutdowns and delayed surgeries.

Quebec could be seeing the beginning of the end of a long-lasting labour conflict between the province and hundreds of thousands of public sector workers.

After weeks of striking, the provincial government and a major teachers’ union had a breakthrough at the bargaining table.

The Federation autonome de l’enseignement (FAE), which represents some 66,000 teachers, has reached a tentative deal with the province over collective agreements late Wednesday.

They’ve reached a consensus regarding working conditions and salaries, according to the offices of Treasury Board Chair Sonia LeBel and Education Minister Bernard Drainville.

“Yes, there is relief,” said Sylvain Martel, head of the Regroupement des comités de parents autonomes du Québec, which represents parents of about 200,000 francophone and anglophone students. “I heard from parents in the week before Christmas and there was a lot of despair.”

The details of the proposed agreement are not being shared, though.

The union says it first has to bring it to its council. If the council approves it, then it becomes an agreement in principle that will have to be submitted to all union members for a vote.

“We will leave it to our council to determine if this is an agreement in principle that responds to the pressing needs of teachers as well as their students,” FAE president Mélanie Hubert said in a news release.