Answer the call, we have! Have you Mr. Roberge?

MONTREAL, Oct. 9, 2020 /CNW Telbec/ - The support staff workers' union of two school service centres and three English school boards believe that the Minister of Education is putting the cart before the horse by saying he wants to hire staff to come to the rescue of the educational system. The Union of Professional and Office Employees (SEPB-Québec-FTQ) believes that first and foremost, to attract and retain new workers, decent working conditions are urgently required.

This week, Minister Roberge declared that 2,000 employees are needed to come to the rescue of the educational system. His solution is to start by hiring Daycare Educators and Student Supervisors.

"In a time when support is most needed, it is not happening. Support staff in schools, daycares and centres are feeling left out of the equation by our government. Our members are exhausted mentally and physically, and it has been brought to me on numerous occasions, that they really do not know how much longer they will be able to work in these conditions. Many of them are contemplating resigning from their positions or early retirement" explains Kate Baldwin, President of SEPB 577, for the support staff union of Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board.

Marie-Claude Éthier, president of the National Council of School Support (CNSS) of SEPB-Québec commented that "Injecting $25 million alone will not make the personnel sought for, magically appear" More than 9,000 school support staff feel the same way.

Is the Minister aware of the precarious working conditions of our support staff workers, the "LARGELY FORGOTTEN" of the educational system?

Marie-Claude Éthier said, "More than 70% of the jobs identified by the Minister are precarious, of which the majority are held by women. In many cases, these jobs are on-call, part-time and with layoffs ranging from 5 to 9 weeks per year. Unlike teachers, unemployment is usually the recourse during the summer months for the workers holding these jobs, including those of Technicians and Student Supervisors".

"The average pay scale for these jobs of said class of employment ranges between $6,000 to $21,400 per year.  In order to adequately respond to the wellbeing and needs of their students, the women in these positions must also commit to an average of 3 to 5 hours of volunteer work per week. These women, lucky enough to hold these minimum amount of hours, must often perform their duties within an erratic work schedule" as explained by Jean-François Labonté, President of SEPB-578, for the support staff union of the Marie-Victorin School Service Centre.

For example, a Daycare Educator often must work three different shifts during a 12-hour period and is paid, on average, 5 hours per day. The Educator receives a split shift premium of $4.05 per day to compensate for a broken schedule.

"This is exactly what we experienced in the health care system last spring. Working conditions with Covid are becoming more demanding, and Minister Roberge's demands are putting increasing pressure on the system and its staff. In addition, the mental health problems of these employees have escalated in the past few months. This will continue to weaken the support staff network who are already in survival mode. Minister Roberge must remove his "rose coloured glasses" and open his eyes to the reality in our schools," as explained by Manon Cholette SEPB-579 President of the union support staff of the Marguerite-Bourgeoys School Services Centre (CSSMB).

At the beginning of the school year, we sent out a short survey to get a better understanding of the current workplace. Adds Kate Baldwin.

Here are some of the comments.

• It is very chaotic and difficult trying to manage bubbles, especially during lunch and Daycare. There is not enough personnel during Daycare hours for the entry and dismissal of students.
• We staff however find ourselves ''doing the best we can'', with repercussions far beyond the workplace.
• Why was there no consideration with the daycares??? These students/staff do come in contact with the others in the school during the day. COVID cannot discriminate between hours, oh! daycare time, COVID won't spread. I believe the emergency daycares were handled al lot better than the regular daycares in the schools. It's sad but true.
• There are not enough staff for supervision at lunchtime. Many areas to cover, many groups eat in classes with a supervisor for 2 groups. Lots of problems for pre-K students that must be sent to the toilet without a staff member to accompany them. We lost a good educator because she had hours cut off.
• This year we are being asked to do jobs that are not ours. Ex. techs being used for recess duty & attendants being used as lunch supervisors. Is there anything that they can't ask us to do?
• As for the debate with the government - I don't know any support staff (Tech's or Aids) that work 35 hours a week. That is one of the problems. How can any school board pretend that it is alright to hire people, with the necessary education, to work with Special Needs Students that don't even cover the school day? 25 hours a week is a joke, it isn't coverage at all plus we are expected to sit around (or volunteer) 90 minutes of unpaid lunch?

"During a recent press conference, aimed at recruiting new personnel, within our school system, the Government invited the public to ANSWER THE CALL. We call on the Government to MAKE THE CALL in our workplaces, where they will observe our precarious working conditions and the decrease in the quality of services to our students; that should then lead them to take the necessary measures to remedy these situations," Explains Marie-Claude Éthier, Manon Cholette and Jean-François Labonté.

If the government does not take action to improve our schools/daycares/centres working conditions, we will lose many staff members and will certainly not be in the position to attract any new ones. The Legault government demands that we "MAKE THE CALL." Have they forgotten about all the workers that have been PRESENT and continue to RESPOND TO THE CALL? We invite our government to "ANSWER THE CALL" in our schools, daycares, and centres, so that they can experience firsthand what our working conditions really look and feel like. We ask, how the government can expect to hire 2000 new employees under these strenuous working conditions? States Kate Baldwin.

It is time to VALUE our workers. Recognize and appreciate all categories of employment for the work they do above and beyond their CALL of duty. It is time to improve our educational system so that we can provide the best support and services for our students. Minister Roberge, it is your turn to ANSWER THE CALL! Concludes Kate Baldwin.

SOURCE Syndicat des employées et employés professionnels-les et de bureau (SEPB)

Dave Parent, communications service, SEPB-Québec, [email protected], cell: 514 713-2046

Related Links

www.sepb.qc.ca