Quebec teachers hold two-day strike

UPDATE: Quebec unions are putting off three days of strikes in the hopes of reaching a contract deal.

Unions representing Quebec’s public sector employees have tabled a counter-offer in their contract negotiations with the government.

Earlier in the week, teachers at both the Lester B. Pearson and English Montreal school boards had voted with 76 per cent in favour of another strike mandate.

MONTREAL – School is out for thousands of elementary, high school and CEGEP students.

READ MORE: What are you doing with your kids on strike days?

The school boards of Pointe-de-l’Ile, English Montreal, Lester B. Pearson, Marguerite-Bourgeoys and Sir Wilfrid Laurier are affected.

READ MORE: Quebec public sector workers continue strike action

Classes are cancelled in Montreal and Laval Monday and Tuesday as teachers take to the streets.

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EMSB teachers protested Monday morning in front of the school board’s headquarters to show their discontent towards the way things have been going at the bargaining table.

More than 100,000 members of the Common Front Union are awaiting a new collective agreement with the provincial government.

READ MORE: Martin Coiteux: progress has been made in public sector contract negotiations

“We look at things like Bombardier, where the government is injecting money there, and although it is an important cause, we are also important cause,” said Linda Tavolaro, Vice-President of the Association Professionnelle Du Personnel Administratif (APPA).

“We are education. We are servicing our children. If the government puts airplanes before children, what message does that bring?”

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READ MORE: One of Quebec’s largest teachers’ federation suspends talks with government

Thousands of members of the Montreal Teachers Union and the Pearson Teachers Union also marched from the Metropolis towards Place des Arts.

“Every single time, they’ve returned to us with an amended proposal on their side, they’ve just insulted us,” said Richard Goldfinch, president of the Quebec Teachers Association.

“They have offered us nothing, they are attacking our collective agreement, they are cutting public education funding all together.”

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