Negotiations at the Cree School Board - Strike actions and several demonstrations to denounce the employer's attitude

MONTREAL, May 26, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - All Cree School Board (CSB) personnel, which includes teachers, support staff and professionals, will be on strike tomorrow, May the 27^th, from 9:30 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. to denounce the lack of openness on the part of the employer after more than two years of negotiations that never cease to end.

While negotiations are almost complete across the public education sector in Quebec, negotiations at the Cree School Board are still not finalized. This situation is all the more troubling since the unions involved, the Association of Employees of Northern Quebec (AENQ-CSQ) and the North West Union of Professionals in School Milieu (SPPMSNO-CSQ), are preparing to table their demands in the context of a new round of negotiations that is fast approaching.

We are appealing to the President of the Treasury Board

The President of the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), Éric Gingras, maintains that this stalemate in Northern Quebec is unwarranted. "As was the case with Kativik School Board (KSB), the Cree School Board did reach an agreement with the Treasury Board on a new negotiation protocol and additional funds. All mandates were to be given to the members of the CSB Management Negotiating Committee (CPNCSC) in order to offer its employees, the same gains as were offered to all KSB personnel, and to reach agreements in principle quickly. Unfortunately, this is not what happened at the CSB and it is time for the Treasury Board President to hold the school board managers accountable", commented Éric Gingras.

We want the same gains as those obtained at Kativik School Board

Let us recall that the AENQ-CSQ, which represents the teaching and support staff of the CSB, and the SPPMSNO-CSQ, which includes the professional staff at the Board, are demanding the same gains granted by the Kativik School Board to its entire staff. These demands are aimed at significantly reducing the gap in treatment that now exists, in terms of working and living conditions between their Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members.

An injustice to be wiped out entirely

"The Cree School Board received the same additional funds from the Treasury Board to be used to re-establish equal treatment between our members whether they are from the North or the South. Unfortunately, the employer stubbornly refuses to give the locally hired employees the full gains that the Kativik School Board gives to its local employees. Our Aboriginal members have been done a serious injustice and the Cree School Board must put an end to it completely, not just in part!" pleads Larry Imbeault, President of the AENQ-CSQ.

Equal treatment for all staff

For his part, the President of the SPPMSNO-CSQ, Jean-Claude Major, asserts that "all the professional staff of the Cree School Board make the same significant contribution to the education of the youth as their colleagues in Nunavik and there is no reason why there should be a difference in treatment between them. This two-tier system sustained by the Cree School Board has gone on for far too long and it is high time that it be stopped. It is in everyone's interest since the CSB will thus increase its capacity to attract and retain personnel".

A strike action that could escalate

Union leaders are hoping that tomorrow's work stoppage will make the CSB aware of the firm determination of its employees to obtain full justice, that is, the same gains granted by the Kativik School Board to its workers. It should be noted that the strike could quickly intensify if there is no significant progress in the current negotiations.

Tomorrow's strike is accompanied by a series of actions in both the North and the South:

9:30 to 11:00 a.m. (May 27)

• Demonstration in front of the Cree School Board Head office
  203 Main St, Mistissini, Quebec

• Simultaneous actions in several localities in the North

11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. (May 27)

• CSQ demonstration outside the Treasury Board Building
  875 Grande Allée East
  Quebec City

• Demonstration in front of the constituency office
  of the Treasury Board President, Sonia LeBel
  580 Barkoff Street
  Trois-Rivières

• Demonstration in front of the constituency office
  of the Minister responsible for Aboriginal Affairs, Ian Lafrenière
  5610 Chemin de Chambly
  Saint-Hubert, Quebec

CSQ profile

The CSQ represents more than 200,000 members, including about 125,000 from education personnel. The CSQ consists of 11 federations that regroup about 240 affiliate unions, along with the AREQ (CSQ), the Association des retraitées et retraités de l'éducation et des autres services publics du Québec. The CSQ is also present in health and social services, early childhood services, municipal, leisure, culture, community and communications sectors.

Twitter : https://twitter.com/CSQ_Centrale

SOURCE CSQ

Maude Messier, Attachée de presse de la CSQ, Cellulaire : 514 213-0770, Courriel : [email protected]; Claude Girard, Conseiller en communication CSQ, Cellulaire : 514 237-4432, Courriel : [email protected]