Daycare centres: three-day strike extended to five

CSN union members in childcare centres on strike in Montreal on January 23, 2025. (The Canadian Press/Graham Hughes)

The three-day strike that began on Wednesday in 400 daycare centres (CPEs) will be extended.

The Fédération de la santé et des services sociaux (FSSS), which represents these workers, announced on Thursday that the strike, initially scheduled for Wednesday, Thursday and Friday this week, would continue on Monday and Tuesday next week.

Workers belonging to these FSSS unions, which are affiliated to the CSN, are protesting outside the National Assembly on Thursday.

Negotiations with Quebec to renew the collective agreements in the CPEs have been going on for several months. The Quebec treasury board tabled its offers to all the unions representing childcare workers in May 2024.

The other union organizations participating in these national negotiations have already reached a settlement with Quebec, and their agreement in principle was even ratified by their members several months ago.

However, the FSSS, which represents the largest number of these workers, says it is still dissatisfied with Quebec’s offers, even though it obtained the same wage increases as all government employees and other unions in the daycare centres. It would like to see other improvements, including overtime.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on April 3, 2025.