Unsatisfied with the amount of movement at the negotiating table with the provincial government, members of the Chateauguay Valley Teachers Association (CVTA) will once again join with 73,000 other teachers in walking off the job on April 27.
A second notice of action was issued Thursday evening by the local unions of the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers (QPAT) and the Fédération des syndicats de l’enseignement. Teachers will once again be using an innovative tactic that will see strike action of a short duration from 2:45 to 5 p.m.
“The school boards have 11 days to arrange themselves for this next minimally disruptive strike action and it is our hope that this can be done with as little disruption as possible to teaching, learning, and services to students,” says CVTA President Nick Ross. Striking is a last resort, he adds, while explaining that teachers have resorted to this extreme to improve their working conditions, but also “as members and stakeholders of their communities and for the learning conditions of all students.”
The strike notice came less than a day after an innovative strike saw area schools delay their start times by up to two hours on April 14, as teachers demonstrated from midnight until 9:30 a.m. “There was great participation and great parent and community support on the 14th, and we hope the same will happen on the 27th,” Ross says, noting that negotiations with the government have picked up the pace since the first strike notice was served on March 31.
In a statement sent to CVTA members, Ross notes that exploratory discussions with the government have led to several breakthroughs and that the two sides are much closer to reaching an agreement.
More details will be available in the April 21 edition of The Gleaner.
