Kativik School Board - Major gains for professional staff

FPPE-CSQ Logo (CNW Group/Syndicat du personnel professionnel de l’éducation du Nunavik et de l’ouest de Montréal (SPPENOM))

SPPENOM Logo (CNW Group/Syndicat du personnel professionnel de l’éducation du Nunavik et de l’ouest de Montréal (SPPENOM))

MONTRÉAL, April 4, 2022 /CNW Telbec/ - Negotiations between SPPENOM (Syndicat du personnel professionnel de l'éducation du Nunavik et de l'ouest de Montréal) and CPNCSK (Management Negotiating Committee for the Kativik School Board) are now complete, with the majority of SPPENOM members supporting the agreement in principle reached on March 24.

SPPENOM, which is affiliated with FPPE-CSQ (Fédération des professionnelles et professionnels de l'éducation du Québec), has secured a new employment contract for its 130 members that will significantly reduce the existing wage gap between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members in working and living conditions.

"The agreement delivers major gains on monetary issues that have been ongoing for several negotiating rounds and that particularly affect our Inuit members. Professionals from the South who came to work in the North had incentives that improved their working and living conditions that their Inuit colleagues were not entitled to. This created a sense of injustice and affected the ability to attract and retain professional staff at the Kativik School Board," said union president Carolane Desmarais.

Adding that this should facilitate recruitment of local employees for the Kativik School Board.

Working conditions

SPPENOM has also been successful on non-pay issues in the collective agreement. Members working in Nunavik communities will be entitled to food and shelter allowances paid directly on top of salaries. These will have a big impact on the local economy by encouraging employees to buy their food from local food stores rather than having it delivered by air from the South.

In addition, members working in the North will be entitled to financial compensation for the fact that third outings are treated as taxable income. This was negotiated at the central negotiating table.

An end to unfair treatment

The SPPENOM president is pleased with this new employment contract, which improves working and living conditions for all members. "Finally, we have been able to make gains that offer hope for an end to the two-tier system that treated our Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal members unfairly. Whether or not they benefited from it, our members all wanted to put an end to this form of injustice, which had no reason for being and created hard feelings among colleagues," said Carolane Desmarais.

Respect that people have earned

FPPE-CSQ president Jacques Landry is pleased with the outcome, which has been welcomed by the professionals at the Kativik School Board. "Negotiations were long, but when you look at the results, being patient was worth it for our members. All professional staff at the Kativik School Board deserve working conditions that are respectful and reflective of their significant contribution to the education of Nunavik youth. So, we've taken an important step toward this ideal," concluded Landry.

About the FPPE-CSQ

The Fédération des professionnelles et professionnels de l'éducation du Québec (FPPE-CSQ) represents 19 unions bringing together more than 11 000 members from nearly all of Quebec's French- and English-speaking school service centres, as well as Cree and Kativik school boards. It has among its members different categories of staff in the administrative and educational sectors, and direct services to students (among others, psychologists, psychoeducators, speech therapists, guidance counsellors, remedial teachers, etc.).

SOURCE Syndicat du personnel professionnel de l’éducation du Nunavik et de l’ouest de Montréal (SPPENOM)

Claude Girard, Communications Advisor, Cell: 514-237-4432, Email: [email protected]