You'll probably hear them before you see them – armed with noisemakers and cheered on by honking drivers, Montrealers are picketing in front of the city's schools, hospitals, and service centres, Tuesday through Thursday. They're part of the roughly 420,000 public and parapublic workers demanding better pay and working conditions across the province.
The latest Front Commun (Common Front) strike will cause disruptions in healthcare and social services. Montrealers can expect this especially on Thursday, when the nurses' union, the Fédération Interprofessionnelle de la santé du Québec (FIQ), will begin their own two-day strike.
But the biggest disruptions are in education. Though both English and French schools and CEGEPs have closed their doors, French schools could be closed for far longer than the three-day strike. On Thursday, the Fédération Autonome de l'Enseignement (FAE), which represents workers in Montreal's largest school service centre, will begin its own indefinite strike.
"It is our last resort to strike," says Andrea Di Tomaso, representative for English school support staff in the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN). "It is really hard for us to disrupt people's lives like this – but we feel at this moment like we have no choice."
Di Tomaso says support staff are the "foundation" of schools, but suffer from low pay and frequent layoffs.
"Without a foundation, the whole building's going to crumble."
For Steven LeSueur, president of the Quebec Provincial Association of Teachers (QPAT), the problem is a lack of movement at the bargaining table.
"It's been over a year. (Treasury Board President) Sonia LeBel asked us to recentre our demands, which we did, and which she isn't acknowledging," he told CKUT. "She keeps saying that she's waiting for a counter-offer, which in my opinion – and I think the opinion of most union leaders – she's received."
That may change after the strike. On Monday, Labour Minister Jean Boulet announced on X, formerly Twitter, that a new conciliator is on the way to make a deal as soon as possible.
Listen to the full story below: