Daycare educators in Quebec hold 2-day strike over stalled contract talks

Some Quebec families are having to find alternate child care arrangements Tuesday and Wednesday due to a rotating strike in the province.

Educators from one of the major daycare workers’ unions, the Fédération des intervenantes en petite enfance du Québec, are picketing this week over stalled contract negotiations.

Tuesday’s job action involves workers in Montreal, Laval, Lanaudière, Montérégie and Estrie, while Wednesday’s takes place in Quebec City, Chaudière-Appalaches and Abitibi-Témiscamingue.

Union president Valérie Grenon says the workers are fighting for better pay, more hiring to support existing staff and more resources for children with special needs.

She told a gathering Tuesday morning that workers are also worried about being forced to work mandatory overtime due to a shortage of educators in the network.

Educators from two other unions will hold separate two-days strikes this week and next.

1:58 Parents and early childhood educators demonstrate against Quebec’s childcare shortage