Around 9,000 family daycare unionized workers with the CSQ will vote on Tuesday about using pressure tactics to break stalled negotiations with the Quebec government.
This mandate will not be for an unlimited strike, but for “progressive, escalating” pressure tactics, which could eventually lead to targeted service interruptions, said Valérie Grenon, president of the Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance (FIPEQ).
The meetings will be held from Sept. 3 to 30 in all 17 regions in Quebec where the FIPEQ, affiliated with the CSQ, has members in family daycare services.
Grenon explained that her members had reached this breaking point because negotiations were making little progress, after several months of talks with the Family Ministry and the Treasury Board.
The collective agreement expired in March 2023 but Quebec didn’t make any offers until April 2024.
Family daycare providers are not paid by the hour. They receive a subsidy from Quebec, which covers their salary, food for the children, housing, toys, and other supplies.
Three meetings are planned for September and dates have been set through December, Grenon noted.
She maintains that Quebec has not changed its offer since April.
“Things have to change; things have to improve,” said Grenon.
If its members vote in favour of pressure tactics, the union hopes the pressure will be enough to change the situation, since Quebec urgently needs help for daycare services.
If the mandate is granted by the Sept. 30 deadline, Grenon said members are “very mobilized.”