(Montreal) Unions representing childcare workers are meeting again with government representatives on Thursday. And they expect to receive an enhanced offer.
Ministers Sonia LeBel and Mathieu Lacombe have already announced the partial payment to educators of the salary increases that were offered last July. The President of the Conseil du trésor had herself let it be known that her offer would eventually be improved.
But the issue of the extended working week up to 40 hours is also dividing the parties. Quebec wants to encourage educators to adopt it by paying them bonuses. Today, the week is often 32 to 36 hours and is established locally.
In an interview Thursday, the president of one of the unions concerned, Sylvie Nelson, of the Quebec Union of Service Employees, affiliated with the FTQ, said she expected above all to submit an enhanced offer in terms of salary.
She says she is “impatient and feverish”. She reports that after nine hours a day spent with young children, educators have had enough.