Quebec offers striking daycare workers an immediate pay hike

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The Quebec government says it will immediately hike the pay of daycare workers, despite continuing contract negotiations that have led to strikes across the province.

Families Minister Mathieu Lacombe and Treasury Board president Sonia LeBel made the announcement Thursday.

Lacombe and LeBel acknowledged that early childhood educators are underpaid and the low salaries are hampering efforts to retain and recruit workers.

They say the government will immediately pay out the 12-per-cent salary increase over three years it offered in July to qualified educators, while other daycare workers will receive slightly less.

The salary increase can reach up to 17 per cent through a lump-sum payment for qualified workers willing to increase their work week to 40 hours. The current work week varies from 32 to 36 hours.

LeBel insisted that despite the offer, the negotiation process was ongoing with government-run childcare centres and subsidized private daycares.

Surprisingly, LeBel said another salary proposal “is coming.”

The government offer comes as the strike in the province’s childcare centres continued on Thursday, with unionized workers affiliated with the CSN walking out after CSQ affiliated workers struck on Tuesday and Wednesday.

The latest round of walkouts are the second and third of 10 strike days voted for by CSN members.

Salaries are at the heart of the contract dispute. At the moment, public sector daycare workers earn an entry level hourly wage of $19 that can increase to a maximum of $25.18 after 10 years.