Latest news with #LarryImbeault
CBC
28-05-2025
- General
- CBC
Teachers vote to approve deal with Nunavik school board
Social Sharing Teachers and support workers in Nunavik have overwhelmingly voted in favour of an agreement-in-principle with Kativik Ilisarniliriniq, the region's school board. The Association of Employees of Northern Québec (AENQ), which represents the teachers and support staff, and the board announced Wednesday they'd reached the agreement earlier this month, narrowly avoiding a strike. In this latest round of voting, 90 per cent of teachers and 95 per cent of support staff were in favour of the deal. "We're relieved, even though we knew our members were going to approve the agreement," said Larry Imbeault, AENQ president. "We're relieved that we didn't need to put more pressure and ultimately go on strike." Background check issue resolved The parties had been negotiating for more than 30 months. One of the final sticking points was the period of time teachers would have to respond to a request of a criminal background check. The board wanted the power to break a contract and effectively fire the employee if they hadn't responded within 10 days. The union was concerned the response window was too short and that it could lead to people losing their jobs if they simply hadn't checked their emails on time. The parties finally agreed that the school board would inform the union for every request of a background check. "We framed this provision a bit more to allow the union to defend its members if necessary," said Imbeault. "Of course we would have preferred what we'd asked for at the start … [but] both the union and members are satisfied with this compromise." In the coming weeks, the school board and the AENQ will be working together to finalize the collective agreement, which will then be brought to teachers. That agreement will run until March 31, 2028, with the next round of negotiations expected to start in October 2027.
Cision Canada
28-05-2025
- Business
- Cision Canada
Kativik School Board - AENQ-CSQ members endorse tentative agreement Français
MONTREAL, May 28, 2025 /CNW/ - After over 30 months of negotiations, the Association of Employees of Northern Quebec (AENQ-CSQ) announced that the Kativik School Board (KSB) teaching and support staff supported the adoption of the tentative agreement reached with management. Strong support for the tentative agreement Following the announcement of a tentative agreement on May 9, members of the AENQ-CSQ have voted in the last few days. The results for the various staff categories are as follows: Teaching staff (E4): 90.42% of members voted in favour of the tentative agreement. Support staff (S9): 95.54% of members voted in favour of the tentative agreement. "I would like to take the time to express my sincerest thanks to the members who played an active role and stood fast since our previous collective agreement expired on March 31, 2023. I would also like to thank the union delegates, the bargaining teams and staff from the AENQ-CSQ, the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ) and the federations directly or indirectly involved in our negotiations. They have all done an outstanding job, for which the members and I are grateful. The buy-in for this tentative agreement speaks for itself," said Larry Imbeault, President of the AENQ-CSQ. Enactment of new provisions Over the coming weeks, stakeholders will prepare the collective agreement's final texts. While the AENQ-CSQ shares its members' eagerness to see the new provisions come into force, it reiterates that this step is essential for ensuring they rigorously comply with the tentative agreement's terms. This step is also underway for Cree School Board's (CSB) teaching and support staff. AENQ-CSQ seeking to accelerate next steps "Our working conditions in the North pose considerable challenges, and the lag with negotiations in the South further complicates matters. I'm once again hoping the school board is as willing to work together to find lasting solutions so that we don't have to go through round after round of negotiations that drag on far longer than necessary. Our members, their own employees, shouldn't have to be penalized," concluded Larry Imbeault. About the AENQ-CSQ The AENQ-CSQ is a union association that brings together teaching and support staff from the Cree and Kativik school boards, Eeyou Istchee daycare staff, as well as teaching staff from two Atikamekw tribal council schools. It boasts more than 2,000 members working in the nine Cree communities across James Bay, the 14 Inuit communities of Nunavik, as well as in Montreal, Gatineau, Saint-Jérôme, Opitciwan and Wemotaci. Five languages are used across the territory covered by the AENQ-CSQ, namely Inuktitut, Cree, Atikamekw, English and French.
Hamilton Spectator
13-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Nunavik's schools have averted a strike. Now what?
Now that Nunavik's teachers and support staff have reached an agreement-in-principle and averted this week's planned 17-day strike, more work is set to begin. Around 450 of the region's teachers and education support staff, represented by the Association of Employees of Northern Quebec, and Kativik Ilisarniliriniq school board reached the agreement late on May 9. The development came days before workers were set to walk off the job starting Tuesday, until May 30. It took the two sides 30 months to reach this point. The previous contract expired in May 2023. It's a relief for union president Larry Imbeault. 'It is as if all that pressure has gone away,' he said in a French phone interview. 'To know that the members won't have to strike, it came as a relief for our members, but also for the students and the community.' Even though negotiations are over, there is still months of work to be done before a final agreement is implemented, he said. The union still needs to present the agreement-in-principle to its members, and they will vote whether or not to accept it. This will happen in a video-conference meeting in the next couple of weeks, Imbeault said. He declined to reveal the contents of the agreement before it is presented to his members. One sticking point in negotiations was whether it would be considered a breach of contract if an employee failed to produce a background check within 10 days after one was requested. The workers also wanted to see improved staff bonuses and housing conditions. Imbeault said this provision was too strict, especially for employees who did not check their email every day. Kativik Ilisarniliriniq director-general Harriet Keleutak disagreed in an interview May 8, suggesting breach of contract in these cases might not automatically lead to dismissal. Once the union's membership accepts the agreement-in-principle, the school board will be tasked to write up the new collective agreement. When written, another round of verifications will be done by the union. Only then will the employer start implementing the agreement, adjust the salaries, and retroactively pay the employees. Imbeault said this process may take another five to six months to complete. 'After everything, we need to talk to [Kativik Ilisarniliriniq] to see how we can do things differently,' he said, 'because it makes no sense that it dragged on for this long.' The union intends on having joint discussions with the school board to find solutions that could speed up the next round of negotiations when they happen.
CBC
12-05-2025
- Politics
- CBC
Strike avoided for schools in Nunavik, Que., communities
Kativik Ilisarniliriniq, the school board for communities in the Nunavik region of Québec, and the union representing teachers as well as support staff have reached an agreement in principle after two and a half years of negotiations. The agreement narrowly avoids a strike that was set to run from May 13 to 30. "The content of the agreement in principle is currently being drafted and will subsequently be submitted to the teachers and support staff affiliated to the [Association of Employees of Northern Québec (AENQ)] for ratification," reads a news release from the school board on Saturday. According to a separate release from the Québec government, the agreement affects more than 1,500 teachers an support staff that work for Kativik Ilisarniliriniq. "The negotiations were long and challenging for everyone involved," said Larry Imbeault, AENQ's president. Teachers went on a three-day strike in January across 14 Nunavik communities. At the time, they pushed for accelerated negotiations. Dismissal concerns at issue One of the final sticking points in the negotiations was the period of time staff had to respond to a request for a criminal background check. The school board required staff to respond within 10 days. If a staff member didn't respond within that window then the board wanted the power to terminate the person's contract. The union was concerned this would lead to arbitrary dismissals of staff that may inadvertently miss the email while on vacation or similar situations. It's not clear how the parties resolved the issue. The proposed strike dates would have coincided with the end of the school year and would have meant cancelled trips and graduation ceremonies. Prior to the agreement, Jennifer La Page, a parent to two high school students in Kuujjuaq, said, "I acknowledge that the teachers should get what they deserve, but their union should not use our children as a bargaining chip to gain their rights." She had launched a petition urging both parties to come resolve their issues, which garnered more than 300 signatures. The agreement is retroactive to 2023 and will last until 2028.
Hamilton Spectator
12-05-2025
- Business
- Hamilton Spectator
Nunavik teachers' strike called off after union, board sign agreement in principle
After two and a half years of what a union leader called 'bitter negotiations,' the union representing Nunavik teachers and Kativik Ilisarniliriniq, the region's school board have reached an agreement in principle, averting what was to be a 17-day strike starting Tuesday. The Association of Employees of Northern Quebec announced Saturday in a news release that an agreement in principle has been reached for teachers and support staff in Nunavik's schools. They had been trying to renew a contract that expired in 2023. 'After 30 months of bitter negotiations, I am delighted that we have finally reached an agreement in principle,' AENQ president Larry Imbeault said in the release, written in French. The union representing 450 teachers and support workers in Nunavik had voted 56 per cent in favor of a strike that was scheduled to start Tuesday and to last 17 days. The union confirmed that all the job actions it planned over the last few days have been cancelled until further notice. The union also would like to see joint discussions be had with the school board to find solutions that could speed up the next round of negotiations. The union's release did not describe any of the terms, such as wage increases, that were part of the agreement. It said it would not say anything more publicly about the agreement until its members were informed about its terms.
