This text is part of the special section Unionism
While negotiations on the renewal of the collective agreement are stalling with Quebec, the Alliance of Professors of Montreal (APPM) is calling for the mobilization of the public to put pressure on the government and save public education in the metropolis.
Many teachers at the end of their tether say they are waiting for the outcome of current negotiations to decide whether or not they will leave the profession, warns Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre, president of the Alliance of Teachers of Montreal.
“Conditions cannot deteriorate further, we cannot afford to lose so many teachers,” she proclaims. The teachers and people who work in Montreal schools keep the school at arm’s length. We have a balance that is very, very fragile in certain environments, we cannot sink any further. »
If the labor shortage is felt almost everywhere in the province, the situation is particularly worrying in Montreal’s public schools. More than a month after the start of the school year, most of the hundreds of vacant positions in Quebec schools are in Montreal, where the challenges are particular.
Certain environments are very disadvantaged, classes often include newcomers who do not yet speak French, several students need specialized services, lists M.me Beauvais-St-Pierre. And the task of the teaching staff is increasing even more with the constant departure of a qualified workforce to other professions or to the private sector, observes the union representative.
According to the latter, working conditions constitute the crux of the problem of retention and attraction of the profession. The latter emphasizes the cascading effects of the labor shortage on students.
“The quality of our Montreal public school is crumbling from one year to the next, because there are too many things to do,” she says. We want to maintain a public education system worthy of the name, which is egalitarian and accessible to everyone. We are doing this for the students, it is for public schools. »
Teachers mobilized
Along with eight other regional unions, the Alliance of Professors of Montreal is affiliated with the Autonomous Federation of Education (FAE), which is negotiating the renewal of the collective agreement of 60,000 members. The FAE is demanding in particular better salary recognition in line with inflation, better work-family balance, a review of the composition of classes and a reduction in the workload.
“The teachers are very mobilized, they are determined, they want to improve their daily lives, their working conditions,” says Catherine Beauvais-St-Pierre, recalling that the members of the union are ready to go on an unlimited general strike. On October 10, Montreal teachers made their voices heard during the inauguration of the Irénée-Lussier specialized secondary school, in the presence of Minister François Legault and the Minister of Education, Bernard Drainville, present at the event.
“The government will have to stop burying its head in the sand,” explains the union representative. There is energy being put into issues that are not priorities, that are not part of the problems we experience in our schools. Cell phones, the issues of mixed toilets, Bill 23 which is on the table… This is not where we should put energy. The real problems must be resolved. We have plenty of solutions in our request list. »
If the union representative deplores the mismatch between the problems observed in classes and the priorities put forward by the Ministry of Education, she believes that the government could change course with greater mobilization of the population.
“If we have the population and parents on our side in this fight, we are convinced that we have a better chance that the government will make decisions to improve the working conditions of teachers,” she insists. We have a government that is very sensitive to public opinion. We feel a consensus among the population, we feel that a large majority of the population is aware that education needs a lot of improvement. It will take significant political will, and for the population to show their support more explicitly. »
This content was produced by the Special Publications team at Duty, relating to marketing. The writing of the Duty did not take part.