Quebec, FAE teachers' union reach tentative deal on salaries
A teachers' union in Quebec, which has been on an unlimited strike, said Wednesday night it reached a tentative deal with the government on both salaries and working conditions.
The tentative agreement will be submitted Thursday to the Fédération autonome de l'enseignement (FAE)'s council, which must decide whether it is an agreement in principle before putting it to a vote by union members.
The FAE represents about 65,000 teachers. It has been on an unlimited strike since Nov. 23, closing about 800 schools for four weeks before the holiday break, including at the province's largest school board in Montreal.
"The 66,500 members of the FAE have just spent 22 days in the streets, without pay, to make themselves heard," FAE president Mélanie Hubert said in a news release. "We will respect our democratic processes before expressing ourselves further."
Teachers represented by the common front — a coalition of public sector unions — will be voting on a tentative deal on working conditions but have yet to reach an agreement on salaries. They are threatening an unlimited strike in the new year.
