Quebec teachers continue to vote in favour of a strike

On Tuesday night, 89per cent of teachers at the Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board voted in favour of a rotating strike mandate in the wake of stalled contract negotiations with the Quebec government.

• Sir WilfridLaurier School Board teachers vote overwhelmingly in favour of a strike
• Thousands of Quebec teachers vote to strike for 2 days this fall
• Retired Montreal teacher says strikingteachers need to stick to their guns

Following a work-to-rule mandate, several school boards and colleges are also holding strike votes this week.

Lester B. Pearson teachers will kick off a strike vote for elementary school teachers Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at Pierrefonds Comprehensive High School. High school teachers will vote on Thursday night.

The Pearson Teachers Union is supporting a rotating strike over six days in the fall.

English Montreal School Board teachers will also vote Thursday night.

Riverside School Board on Montreal's South Shore and Sir Wilfried LaurierSchool Board teachers have voted for six non-consecutive strike days.

TheFdrationautonomedel'enseignement(FAE)a union federation representingteachers at French-language schools is holding a one-day strikeon Sept. 30.

That strike day is expected to affect275,000 students in 10 Montreal-area school boards.

The FAE will hold two other, non-consecutiverotating strike days in October.

Quebec teachers are asking for a 13.5 per cent increase in salary over three years. They have been without a contract since April.

What the province is asking for:

• Increase in teacher-student ratio.
• Elimination of allocated funds toward schools' programs for special-needs children.
• Abolition of 800 resource-teacher and special-education teacher jobs.
• Salary freeze for two years.
• Cuts to employee pension plans.

Strike vote results

• Riverside School Board: Sept.15. Voted 86 per cent in favour of a strike.
• New Frontiers School Board:Sept. 16. Voted 86 per cent in favour of a strike.
• John Abbott College:Sept. 21. Voted 89 per cent in favour of a strike.
• SirWilfridLaurierSchool Board:Sept. 21-22. Voted 89.3 per cent in favour of a strike.

Upcoming dates of strike votes for Montreal-area English schools and boards

• Lester B. Pearson School Board:Sept. 23-24
• Eastern Townships School Board: Sept. 24
• English Montreal School Board: Sept.24
• Vanier College: Sept. 25
• Dawson College:Sept. 28-29