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Quebec sweetens offer to daycare workers a day after Legault pledges extra spaces

Quebec also confirmed it has withdrawn management proposals that aimed to broaden the use of mandatory overtime.

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The Quebec government on Friday sweetened its salary offer to the province’s daycare workers by 3.2 percentage points in a bid to reach an agreement.

The proposal provides for a salary increase of up to 20.22 per cent over three years, the province says, but unions were quick to say those claims aren’t grounded in reality.

Treasury Board President Sonia LeBel launched a “cry from the heart” to educators, asking them to accept the offer during a press conference in Montreal on Friday. “We heard your call, but at some point I think it’s time to settle. We have to sit down and find concrete solutions. You have elements on the tables that are serious at the moment and I ask you to consider them. ”

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The offer came only a day after Premier François Legault promised to create 37,000 additional daycare spots in the network by 2025. When previous announcements are taken into account, the real number of new spots announced yesterday comes to 18,000 by 2025.

Stéphanie Vachon, a representative of for CPEs at the FSSS-CSN, said she was disappointed with the government’s proposal. The union has yet to analyze it properly, she said, but noted several shortcomings “at first glance.”

“I would say no, I will not present it to my members. We still have a lot of work to do at the negotiating table,” Vachon said in an interview.

The offer includes an hourly bonus of four per cent for work conducted outside of regular hours.

The government also confirmed it has formally withdrawn management proposals that aimed to broaden the terms and conditions of mandatory overtime.

At a press briefing in L’Assomption, Legault said it would be ideal for educators to work five days a week. “It’s important to say we don’t force anyone to work full time, but just common sense when a child goes to daycare for five days, it would be fun if it was the same educator for the five days.”

Vachon said she finds it “contemptuous” to say educators do part-time work. “It’s really a lack of knowledge of the profession.”

The work day of an educator is nine hours and the average is 34 to 36 hour weeks. “It’s big weeks of work, it’s a profession that is excessively exhausting, emotionally, physically and psychologically,” she added.

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