Nunavik education workers still without collective agreement, protest in Québec City

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Nunavik’s education workers have been without a collective agreement for nearly two years and several union representatives gathered in front of the Québec Treasury Board offices near the National Assembly in Québec City on Friday morning.

They set up an inukshuk for the protest and spoke with passersby to say their colleagues in Nunavik were facing temperatures near -30 C.

Larry Imbeault, president of the Association of Employee of Northern Quebec, said the demonstration was aimed at urging the government to engage in good faith with the Kativik School Board.

“We know that education in the North is not the same as in the South,” Imbeault said.

“The situation should have improved, especially since the creation of the Kativik School Board, Illisarniliriniq, 50 years ago as part of the James Bay and Northern Quebec Agreement. Unfortunately, we find ourselves in the situation we are in today,”

Kativik needs more funding to maintain regular operations and attract staff, he said.

“This is extremely important for the Inuit nation,” he said.

Nadine Bédard St-Pierre, first vice-president of the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), said negotiations for a new collective agreement for Nunavik’s education staff have been difficult.

“Some negotiation sessions have had to be cancelled due to the lack of response from the employer to our proposals,” she said.

Bédard St-Pierre criticized the disparity between the situation in the North and that of southern Quebec, where agreements were reached over a year ago, including retroactive pay.

“For us, it’s a case of double standards, and we want this situation to end as soon as possible,” she said.

The Québec government acknowledged the unique challenges facing Northern Quebec and Nunavik, it said in a statement.

“Through this negotiation, we aim to improve the attraction and retention of staff, as well as provide better services to students,” it said.

Related stories from around the North: 

Canada: Yukon education department pauses change to educational assistant allocation process, CBC News

Norway: Can cross-border cooperation help decolonize Sami-language education, Eye on the Arctic

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