Premier François Legault believes the province will reach an agreement with teachers by the end of the week, but says talks are at a standstill with the health-care sector.
“I have high hopes all children will be back in school starting Monday,” Legault told reporters on his way into a cabinet meeting Wednesday morning. “As for health, the negotiations are really, really difficult. They basically (aren’t open) to giving us flexibility.”
The Fédération autonome de l’enseignement (FAE), a union representing some 65,000 teachers, has been on an unlimited strike since Nov. 23, leaving thousands of Quebec students at home.
It quickly took to social media to criticize the premier’s latest comments, implying the workers aren’t actually that close to reaching a deal.
“Contrary to what the premier is saying, news from the negotiating table has not been encouraging,” the FAE writes. “The government’s strategy is clearly to divide the movement and exhaust teachers.”
But many Quebec students will head back to school on Friday. The Common Front, which represents health-care workers as well as nearly 100,000 teachers, wraps up its final day of a seven-day strike on Thursday.
It plans on launching an unlimited strike of its own in January if it fails to reach an agreement, but both the unions and government are hoping it doesn’t come to that.
“I think that we are working in a manner that could permit us to hope to reach an agreement by the end of the year,” Quebec Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel said. “We have to work hard.”
CSQ president Éric Gingras, speaking on behalf of the Common Front, said they “want a deal before Christmas.”
“That’s what we’re hoping for and that’s what we’re working for,” Gingras said. “We’re kind of far apart still but the next days are important.
As for the province’s largest nurses’ union, the FIQ, LeBel said the union’s demands aren’t realistic.
The union has been asking for better nurse-to-patient ratios and lighter workloads. LeBel claims that would require the province to hire thousands more workers, which she says isn’t possible.
“I will remind you that we have $9 billion on the table and if we agree to everything that they’re asking, it would mean, like, $18 billion,” LeBel said. “This is not something that’s realistic.”
The FIQ declined an interview request, pointing to an earlier Facebook post instead.
In it, FIQ president Julie Bouchard says the government has continually asked for flexibility, but that isn’t what nurses want.
The union is entering its final day of a four-day strike mandate on Thursday.
Health Minister Christian Dubé says an average of 500 non-urgent surgeries are delayed every day of the strike.