Striking Nunavik teachers push for accelerated contract talks

Some 450 teachers in Nunavik schools have been officially on strike since Thursday.

They're expected to be off the job until Jan. 21, saying contract negotiations have reached an impasse. 

A few dozen teachers formed a picket line in front of Jaanimmarik school in Kuujjuaq on Thursday, until the cold forced them inside. 

The teachers' association is asking to accelerate the negotiation of their new collective agreement, which has been ongoing since October 2022. 

Teachers in the south of the province, for their part, reached an agreement with the Quebec government a year ago. 

"We're looking forward to having our collective agreement signed and in place, so that way we can go back to doing what we love most, teaching our students," said Kaitlyn Ramsay, a teacher in Kuujjuaq. 

Among the sticking points, the Association des employés du Nord québécois wants to see an increase to the staff retention bonus, which hasn't changed since 2001. 

The teachers on strike Thursday say Quebec needs to improve the recruitment of staff in schools in the North. In total, there were still 54 vacant teaching positions in Nunavik as of Dec. 3.

"Since I've been here, classes have changed teachers two to three times in a school year. In small communities, the isolation seems even greater — teachers are more inclined to leave before the end of the year," Andréanne Mercier-Ruest, a teacher at Pitakallak elementary school in Kuujjuaq, told Radio-Canada in French. 

Water issues 

The teachers' association also hopes to come to an agreement on the issue of water shortages in Nunavik, which regularly affect a number of teachers in the region. 

The association wants its members to have leave days they can take if they don't have water for several days. 

"In some communities, people can go more than three days without access to water, or to toilets. There are conditions we're asking for that are common sense, and the school board isn't listening to our proposals. It's a shame," said Mercier-Ruest.

Water shortages in communities are also sometimes exacerbated by a lack of water trucks that deliver to teachers' homes in Nunavik. Permafrost often also prevents the construction of reliable water systems in the region. 

A secure environment 

Adding to the dispute is a request that violent incidents involving students be better supervised by school management. 

Some teachers in Nunavik have said that young people having difficulty adjusting are too easily reintroduced into classes after violent acts against teachers or other students.

"The most important thing would be ... to make sure that our teachers are looked after, that they are in a safe working environment. That they feel welcome to come and to stay here for a really long time," Ramsay said. 

There were also demonstrations on Thursday supporting Nunavik teaches in front of the Commission scolaire Kativik in Montreal. 

This demonstration also brought together union representatives of school support staff and education professionals who work in Nunavik. 

In an email to CBC News, the Kativik regional school board said it is not giving interviews or commenting "as negotiations are ongoing."