Don't let Quebec premier 'fool' you about strike ending soon, teachers' union warns members

A Quebec teachers' union is pushing back against the premier's suggestion that its strike could end in time for students to return to school next week.

On Wednesday morning, the Fédération autonome de l'enseignement (FAE) — which represents 65,000 teachers across the province — warned in an online post to not get on Premier François Legault's "rollercoaster," after he told reporters negotiations with teachers were going very well and that he was hopeful students would be back in classrooms Monday.  

The FAE has been on an unlimited strike since Nov. 23. Another 95,000 teachers who are part of the common front are on a one-week strike expected to last until tomorrow. In all, about 1.2 million students are out of school.

"The government is playing with teachers at the bargaining table and in the media," read the FAE's post on X, formerly known as Twitter. "Let's not fool ourselves."

Late Tuesday night, union president Mélanie Hubert told members in an online video that the conversation with the government was "no longer encouraging."

Following a day of talks, she said the minutes taken by the government negotiators about yesterday's session don't reflect what the union negotiators felt was said.

The employer's position seems to be that the ball is in the union's court, Hubert said.

"What's urgent is that we unblock negotiations at the bargaining table," she said.