Quebec daycare workers approve agreement in principle, ending unlimited strike

Quebec CPE daycare educators on an unlimited strike have approved an agreement in principle reached with the provincial government.

The 11,000 employees affiliated with the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) voted 93 per cent in favor of accepting the deal after days of strikes and months of negotiations.

Stéphanie Vachon, FSSS–CSN child-care lead, said the negotiation wasn't easy. 

"It's teamwork that wouldn't have been possible without the CPE workers mobilizing and their solidarity and the exceptional support from parents," she said. "Really, it's something historic, and we hope not to relive such conflict in future negotiations."

The agreement includes an 18 per cent increase for educators over three years, along with increases of eight to 12.5 per cent for support staff, whereas the government originally offered a six per cent raise for support staff only. 

In a statement, Sonia Lebel, the president of Quebec's Treasury Board, welcomed the decision. 

"This clearly shows that the government's offers were generous and caught up to what they needed to be," she said. 

Other unions representing workers in child-care centres, namely the Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance du Québec, affiliated with the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (FIPEQ-CSQ) and the Syndicat québécois des employées et employés de service (SQEES) associated with the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ) reached an agreement with the Quebec government on Wednesday.

The CSN initially announced a return to work on Monday, although members had not yet voted on the agreement. The union then said employees returning to work would ultimately depend on the outcome of the vote.