Quebec public sector workers begin 3-day strike, shuttering schools and hitting health care

With Quebec's public schools closed for the majority of the week, Danielle Desrosiers fears not only for her daughter's educational success, but also her well-being.

Her 21-year-old daughter has special needs and attends Wagar Adult Education Centre in Côte Saint-Luc, a city on the island of Montreal. 

A provincewide public sector strike that started Tuesday morning is keeping schools like hers closed until Thursday and maybe even longer in some parts of the province. 

"For my daughter, it's all about routine and structure and this really interrupts her well-being," Desrosiers said. 

Some 420,00 members of a group of Quebec public sector unions known as the common front — Front commun — walked off the job Tuesday, launching a three-day strike that will affect the province's health, education and social service networks.

WATCH | Why public sector workers are striking: 

The strike is scheduled to last until 11:59 p.m. Thursday.

Steven Le Sueur, president of the Quebec Professional Association of Teachers, said unions have been trying to negotiate for a year, yet they're "nowhere close" to a new collective agreement with the government. 

"We've cut our demands down and they're not respecting what we've put on the table," he said from the picket line Tuesday. 

Le Sueur is asking parents to be patient with the strike actions, because "all this is going to hopefully make your children more successful at school."

The common front is made up of the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), the Alliance du personnel professionnel et technique de la santé et des services sociaux (APTS) and the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ).

Speaking to reporters outside Irénée-Lussier high school in Montreal's Hochelaga-Maisonneuve neighbourhood, heads of a major union representing Quebec's school support staff said those members have the lowest salaries in the entire education network. They said 12 per cent of them relying on food banks. 

"What we're hearing is the sound of anger from workers," said Frédéric Brun, vice-president of the Fédération des employées et employés de services publics (FEESP – CSN), referencing the noisy crowd behind him waving flags, blowing horns and prompting honks from vehicles passing by. 

"[The government] has to think about what's important. Is it more important right now to invest in getting the Los Angeles Kings [to come play here] next year for $6-7 million or to invest in education?"