Demands of Early Childhood Centre Workers
Although they are not negotiating as a common front, unionized daycare
workers have common demands for wages and conditions that they deem
acceptable and that will contribute to solving the problem of workforce
attraction and retention that continues to threaten the network's very
existence.
Wages
The issue of wages is an important one in the current dispute.
Collective agreements expired on March 31, 2020, and wages remain in
dispute. The lack of agreement on wages means that no other issues have
been dealt with in negotiations, even though there are many important
issues to resolve.
 The
unions estimate that wages for workers in daycare centres are 16 per
cent lower overall than wages in the same job categories for other
workers in the public service. According to the unions,
unacceptable wages are one of the main reasons why, between 2019 and
2020, there was a decline of nearly 25 per cent in the number of
people graduating in Early Childhood Education in CEGEPs across Quebec.
One of the unions involved in the negotiation, the Quebec Early
Childhood Workers' Federation (FIPEQ-CSQ) has informed that its wage
demands are between 13.6 and 20.3 per cent over three years, depending
on the job category.
The unions' effort to negotiate acceptable wages for their members
was not only disrupted by the government's initial refusal to
acknowledge the problem, but also by its provocative move in
mid-October to offer a temporary increase of around 17 per cent to
educators only, an offer which included a lump sum of $50 per week for
those willing to extend their work week to 40 hours. This was announced
outside of the negotiations, with workers and their unions strongly
denouncing the move.
The unions have since announced that the government's offers for
those educators who are responsible for groups of children in daycare
centres are now closer to what the workers are demanding. These offers
are said to be in the range of an 18-20 per cent increase over three
years, depending on the unions. Special care educators, on the other
hand, who work with children with special needs, would receive much
less.
The problem is compounded when it comes to wages for workers in all
the other job categories, who are as essential as educators. Entirely
unacceptable offers have been made for these job groups. These include
educational support workers, administrative assistants, maintenance
workers and food service workers. The government is essentially
offering the same increases that have been negotiated for corresponding
workers in other public sector institutions, i.e. two per cent annually
and therefore six per cent for a three-year contract, an offer that
rises to nine per cent for certain employees working at the lowest
wages.
For example, workers responsible for food services who are at the
top of their pay scale, currently earn an hourly rate of $20.67,
compared to $26.57 in the rest of the public sector. This offer, the
unions are saying, is totally inadequate for retaining these employees
in the child care sector, let alone attracting others.
Maintenance workers, who under pandemic conditions play a very
important role in the regular disinfection of all common areas, often
have a starting wage of little more than $15, and the proposed offer
will have a very minimal impact on their wage.
Daycare workers have said that they will not accept such a wage
offer, and educators have shown strong solidarity with their colleagues
in other job categories during strike actions over recent weeks.
Other Demands Have Yet to be Addressed
The lack of resolution on wages has meant that other important demands have not yet been addressed.
Workers are asking for more paid annual vacation leave to allow them
to recuperate and spend time with their families.
They also want an affordable group insurance plan. They note that in
recent years the cost of the plan has risen sharply, however the
employer's contribution has not kept pace and this must be corrected. The
increase in cost is directly related to the dramatic rise in the number
of members who have had to go on disability, a consequence of their
exhaustion.
Another category of demands concerns the ever-increasing workload.
For example, increased pedagogical preparation time is a major
issue. The Ministry is making increasing demands on workers through the
imposition of new regulations. One example is the child's portfolio.
Workers are required to complete the portfolio and meet with the parent
requesting it twice a year. However, preparation time for the
child's file has not been increased and so workers find themselves
having to accomplish this task on their personal time. The same is true
for educational planning, which must be supported by observation and
documented according to each child's development and needs.
Another important matter to address concerns children with special
needs. Workers are asking for more support for these children. Few
resources are available to support workers on a daily basis, due to a
lack of funding and specialized personnel. Early Childhood Centres are
welcoming more and more children with particular challenges.
Unions are asking for a separate monetary allocation to better support
these children so that they are offered a more welcoming environment
adapted to their needs. Quebec’s child-care network has more than 50,000 names on its waiting
list and a shortfall of educators that the Family Department estimates
at 17,800 workers. Premier Legault has promised to add 37,000 more
subsidized daycare spots by 2025. Without meeting the just demands of
the child care workers, the claims of the Quebec government, to provide child care
spaces for all who need them ring hollow.
For daycare workers, these demands are essential to meet the needs
of workers so that the daycare centre network is protected and
developed to properly serve the needs of Quebec society.
This article was published in
November 29, 2021 - No. 113
Article Link:
https://cpcml.ca/WF2021/Articles/WO081132.HTM
Website: www.cpcml.ca
Email: editor@cpcml.ca
|
