9 June 2023
As part of the negotiations, the president of the Fédération du personnel de soutien scolaire (FPSS-CSQ), Éric Pronovost, reminds the Minister of Education that “school support personnel are indispensable, they cannot ignore our contribution invaluable in education. Negotiations are difficult when the employer counterparts want to deteriorate working conditions”.
Deliver the message to the FCSSQ
The government is not alone in these negotiations, it has obtained mandates from various organizations, including the Fédération des centers de services scolaire du Québec (FCSSQ). Mr. Pronovost denounces “the employer’s clawback that compromises the rights that school support staff had obtained over the past few years. Today we are delivering a message to the FCSSQ so that it takes our realities into account, we still have a large number of positions with a small number of hours, we must stop being stingy and offer schedules where people don’t have to go find a second or third job to live.
Requests from the FPSS-CSQ
School support staff make up 40% of the people working in schools across the province. Whether administrative, manual, technical, paratechnical or direct student services, these people contribute to education by supporting the work of teachers, professionals and management. Mr. Pronovost declares “Without school support staff, schools and centers would not be able to function, the employer’s offers do not reflect our importance and our indispensable contribution to education. We are indispensable”.
Improve the quality of school support staff jobs
The staff shortage problem is a major issue for the members of the FPSS-CSQ. We are calling for very specific measures to improve the attraction and retention of staff. “This requires quality jobs with full-time positions, the end of broken schedules, the promotion of all school support jobs and family-work balance. Concrete actions are needed to solve these problems,” concludes Éric Pronovost.