3 days ago
Union representing workers in 400 daycare centres votes 58 per cent in favour tentative agreement
Workers at Centres de la petite enfance (CPE), members of the CSN-affiliated Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux, protesting during a one-day walkout, January 23, 2025. (Graham Hughes/The Canadian Press)
Workers in 400 daycare centres (CPEs) voted 58 per cent in favour of the tentative agreement reached with Quebec for the renewal of their collective agreement.
The workers are members of unions affiliated with the Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux (FSSS), which is affiliated with the CSN.
'It's not the collective agreement of the century,' said Stéphanie Vachon, FSSS representative for the CPE sector, in an interview.
She noted that there have been improvements in 'entry-level and exit-level salaries' in the profession, but the 17.4 per cent increase over five years for all workers remains the same as for government employees.
'The government had really laid its cards on the table' with its 17.4 per cent increase for the public sector, which it insisted on, Vachon recalls.
'Then there is also the notion of the other union federations that reached an agreement before us and established a kind of basic framework. So it was really the fact that this basic framework was not broken that created a lot of discontent and dissatisfaction among workers. That's what we see in the result' of 58 per cent support, Vachon said.
She added that work in CPEs is not recognized for its true value.
The FSSS is the last union representing workers in CPEs to conclude its negotiations with Quebec. The three others involved in these national negotiations reached agreements last year: the Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance (FIPEQ), affiliated with the CSQ, the Syndicat québécois des employé(e)s de service (SQEES) and the Syndicat des métallos, both affiliated with the FTQ.
In Quebec City, Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel welcomed the approval of this tentative agreement, which was reached on May 5. 'This step marks a breakthrough in the process of improving working conditions for educators and the quality of services offered to children and their families,' she said on X.
FSSS union members had been on strike for 13 days since the end of January.
Vachon said she believes it was worth striking for 13 days to achieve this result.
'Yes, absolutely. Between the start of the strike and the end, there was always something else that was holding things up,' she said.
She also claims to have made gains on certain bonuses, particularly to recognize the value of experienced workers.
These FSSS union members work in more than 400 CPEs. Quebec had 940 CPEs as of Dec. 31 last year, managing 1,772 facilities, according to the Ministry of Family Affairs.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on June 2, 2025.
By Lia Lévesque, The Canadian Press
