Quebec, FAE teachers’ union reach tentative deal on salaries, working conditions

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.

If approved, the deal would end the unlimited strike, which has kept 368,000 students home since Nov. 23 after about 800 schools were forced to close.

“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.

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