Following a one-month tour of general meetings, tentative agreements for education sector support staff and professional personnel in the school service centres and CEGEP support staff were accepted by just 58% of the membership.
“This result reflects our members’ major disappointment over the government’s failure to recognize the work by support staff. It opted to ignore the problems of attracting and retaining personnel in several job categories, who are among the least well paid in the sector,” explained Richard Delisle, president of the CUPE Education Sector.
The unions want to step up their efforts with their respective employers to improve local working conditions, a responsibility that the government never bothered to deal with during negotiations.
“We will be undertaking a thorough analysis of these negotiations and will now begin the process of making preparations for the next bargaining round. We would like to thank the members for their commitment and their determination to defend our common interests. Together, we will continue working toward a future where the work of support staff will be fully recognized and valued,” said CUPE union representative Marie-Claude Arbour.