They demand better wages, better working conditions, and above all more recognition in their profession. About 80 “territorial agents specializing in nursery schools” (ATSEM) gathered this Monday morning in front of the Prefecture of Isère, place de Verdun in Grenoble. Maryline, from Bourgon-Jallieu, claims “equipment” and “decent premises” to exercise the profession that she has chosen and that she loves. “I’ve been here for 10 years, I love my job, I love working with children, I love interacting with teachers, with my colleagues, she confides. But we manage to be disgusted with it given the working conditions. That there are decent salaries! There must be recognition of the profession because today there is none.”
– Lionel Cariou
Recognition that goes through remuneration underlines Arezki Oussalah of CGT 38: “we will be at the start of our career between 1,200 and 1,300€ net, and at the end of our career, if we remove the compensation scheme, an ATSEM will leave with 1,500-1,600€ net, so I will not explain to you what that gives for the calculation of his pension…”
“This morning I carried a child all morning”
Alphonsine has been doing this job since 1999 and earns 1,550 euros net per month. This former hairdresser has seen the working conditions deteriorate and insists on the hardship: “This morning I carried a kid all morning from 8:30 a.m. to 10 a.m. because as soon as I put him on the ground he screamed. He hurt me, so I kept him. who work for example in green spaces. It’s a bit of discrimination… An ATSEM she sits all day on very small chairs, in the dormitory we sit on the floor to be closer to the child Why is this hardship recognized in some municipalities and not in others? The same rule for everyone, that’s what she asks.
His colleague Karima, from Saint-Martin-d’Hères, explains that at lunchtime there is an ATSEM for 14 children. “When you have toddlers who are 2 and a half years old, she points out, it’s very complicated for the colleague who suddenly finds herself with these 14 children if there are 2 diapers to change, immediately the meal goes wrong.” The presence of an ATSEM per class is part of their demands, because this is not always the case. All also underline the multiplication of tasks, in particular administrative, while salaries do not follow.