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PUBLIC WORKERS’STRIKE: AN INTERVIEW I had the chance to discuss the strike matter with Maria Mastorakos, the President of the John Abbott College Faculty Association: NT: How does the strike impact students? MM: The most immediate impact is obviously the disruption of classes. But it's important to think long term. These strikes are partially for the long term health of the public sector (because it isn't just CEGEP teachers - the common front consists of healthcare workers (like hospital technicians, respiratory therapists, social workers, and many more), support staff in schools and hospitals, teachers in elementary, high school and Cegeps). If the public sector continues to be underfunded, everyone in society (including students) suffers and anyone entering the workforce in these professions are also affected. NT: How does the strike impact teachers? MM: In the immediate future teachers have to be on the picket lines during strike days, and they do not get compensated on those days. Teachers do receive strike pay if they come to the picket line, but it’s an emergency benefit: it’s not meant to replace their full salary (i.e. it is less than what they usually make). Teachers' working conditions are also disrupted because we have to organize our classes in response to the strike days. But the reason that we accept this disruption in our classes and our salary is like I said before, it is for the future of both our profession and the public sector as a whole. The current offer of the government just in terms of our salary is well below inflation (and when your salary increases do not keep up with inflation, you are taking a pay cut, because the cost of things rises faster than your salary). We took a pay cut in the last negotiations in 2021, so now we are trying to catch up. Just on the notion of salary - it is important for the salary of teachers (and public sector workers) to be competitive.
We never expect to be making as much as in the private sector, but we should keep getting paid the same amount that we have in the past (i.e. our salaries keeping up with inflation). If our salaries don't keep up, less and less people will want to be teachers (and they are already feeling this quite acutely in the elementary and high schools - they have a lot of trouble attracting new teachers to the profession because of the working conditions and the salary). NT: How does the strike affect education?MM: The strike is a "cri de Coeur" to save our public sector and education system. If we take the situation currently in high schools and elementary schools - they have difficulty recruiting in every sector (teachers, support staff, etc) and keeping people in the system (we also have a difficulty in CEGEPS, we are feeling the effects but not as acutely as our colleagues in the high schools and elementary schools). If there is no one to teach, what will happen to our schools? What will happen to our education system as a whole if no one wants to work for the education system? The strike and hopefully its positive outcome at least gives our system a fighting chance to get back on its feet from the current predicaments. If we accepted the current salary offer from the government, we would effectively be dooming the system to fail, because more and more people would leave due to the poor working conditions and the low salary. NT: What does JACFA want? MM: JACFA is part of a "regroupement" of public CEGEPs called FNEEQ (Fédération nationale des enseignantes/enseignants du Québec). So all of the CEGEPS within FNEEQ are asking for the same things in terms of our working conditions, and all of the unions a part of the Common Front
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By Nicolas Tremblay - Staff Writer (which includes FNEEQ) have the same demands when it comes to salary. The government is now offering 10.3% over 5 years, we (i.e. the Common Front) are asking for a 3 year contract which would be Year 1: inflation +2%, Year 2: Inflation +3% Year 3: Inflation +4% (the government's salary offer does not even match its own projected inflation numbers). NT: How are the negotiations going for JACFA? MM: The negotiations have been stalled for over a year - the only concession the government has made so far is their revised salary offer of 10.3% over 5 years (which is still below their projected inflation) - there is a reason that teachers voted 99.4% in favour of a strike! When you are attempting to negotiate and the other side isn't willing to budge, unfortunately you have to find other ways to apply pressure, and more unfortunately, strikes are one of the only ways to apply pressure to an employer like the government. So we do what we have to in order to fight for the future of public services in Quebec. NT: What can be done to educate people about the strike? MM: People can visit the Front Commun website: https://www.frontcommun.org/ There is also a local student strike support committee, for more information students can contact shannon.ikebe@gmail.com or kelly.mckinney10@gmail.com . Knowing the motives and reasons behind the strike will help everyone to have a peaceful protest for better conditions. Without public workers, everyday life would not be as easy and sectors such as education are not financed enough. Whether one is for or against the strike, it is important to remember that there are many aspects to consider and that we are dealing with the lives of human beings, and their financial stability.
