This is what emerges from a survey conducted last January by the Federation of Public Service Employees-CSN, the results of which were made public on Wednesday. The exercise was carried out in preparation for negotiations for the renewal of collective agreements with the Government of Quebec.
The union represents staff in administration, maintenance, special education, school daycare services and midday supervisors. However, the majority of respondents mentioned an emotional exhaustion often linked to an overload of work and a growing level of violence among students.
Many considered quitting their jobs or early retirement. A distress that hardly surprises Manon Gagnon, vice-president of the union of employees of the Lac-Abitibi school board.
% emotional exhaustion. It is precisely the daily stress, the anxiety, the inability to say: ok, i am not able to give support to the student as i would be sensible, i have no resources“,”text”:”I’m not surprised at the 59% emotional exhaustion. It is precisely the daily stress, the anxiety, the powerlessness to say: ok, I am not able to give the support to the student as I would be sensible, I have no resources”” >I’m not surprised at the 59% emotional exhaustion. It is precisely the daily stress, the anxiety, the inability to say: ok, i am not able to give support to the student as i would be sensible, i have no resources
mentions Ms. Gagnon.
« It lacks manpower, the hours are not there. The whole problem behavior increases, but there is nothing that follows. People will therefore look elsewhere instead of falling. We have early retirements, we have employees who have left. »
Resurgence of violence
Support staff are also witnessing an upsurge in both physical and psychological violence. A third of respondents said they had experienced violence from students. A violence that also manifests itself at an increasingly young age.
ans”,”text”:”Before, we saw that in high school. Now they are children who are in kindergarten 4 years old””>Before, we saw that in high school. Now they are children who are in kindergarten 4 years old
observes Nancy Therrien, president of the union of employees of the Lac-Abitibi school board.
« I regularly have girls who get bitten, pinched, thrown at things. It continues in 1st year, 2nd year, it goes until 6th year. If the students lacked resources in primary, nothing is settled when they arrive in secondary school. »
Nancy Therrien, president of the union of employees of the Lac-Abitibi school board.
Photo: Courtesy
However, stakeholders no longer have the means to act upstream, argues Annie Charland, president of the school sector at the Federation of Public Service Employees. Most special education technicians have schedules longer than 25 hours. In addition to living in precarious conditions, they don’t have time to work on prevention.
booked, they just put out fires. There is a crisis, we calm it down, we go back to class and we will manage the other crisis. It can’t work. You have to have the time to work with the child, on their social skills such as anger management”,”text”:”Special education technicians don’t have a lot of hours, and yet they should have some a lot. The girls are so booked, they just put out fires. There is a crisis, we calm it down, we go back to class and we will manage the other crisis. It can’t work. You have to have the time to work with the child, on his social skills such as anger management””>Special education technicians don’t have a lot of hours, and yet they should have a lot. The girls are so booked, they just put out fires. There is a crisis, we calm it down, we go back to class and we will manage the other crisis. It can’t work. You have to have time to work with the child, on their social skills such as anger management
insists Annie Charland.
Annie Charland, president of the school sector of the Federation of Public Service Employees-CSN.
Photo: Courtesy
Conditions to improve
The precarious situation of several support staff members, who often have to work during their break or their lunch hour, for example, insufficient hours and non-respected staff/student ratios are all factors that affect staff retention, according to the union.
hours per week. We must increase the hours of the people already present, improve their working conditions. This could ensure that our members remain despite all the context”,”text”:”We are talking about work overload, technicians on the floor who manage a lot of students in difficulty at the same time. We lack qualified manpower. But we also have shifts that are not even 35 hours a week. We must increase the hours of the people already present, improve their working conditions. This could ensure that our members remain despite all the context””>We are talking about work overload, technicians on the floor who manage many students in difficulty at the same time. We lack qualified manpower. But we also have shifts that are not even 35 hours per week. We must increase the hours of the people already present, improve their working conditions. This could ensure that our members remain despite all the context
believes Pascale Boilard, president of the Union of school support employees Harricana.
Pascale Boilard, president of the Union of Harricana School Support Employees.
Photo: Courtesy
Invited to react to this survey, the Harricana and Lac-Abitibi school service centers indicated that they took note of the results, but refused to comment because of the union negotiations that are underway.
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