This text is part of the special section Unionism
More and more cases of physical and psychological violence against school staff in Quebec are being reported. For Éric Gingras, president of the Centrale des syndicats du Québec (CSQ), we must look at the roots of this problem and ensure that the regulations are followed.
Since 2018, the number of complaints for violence against primary school teaching staff has tripled, according to CNESST data transmitted to Radio-Canada. School support staff are not left out. Four out of ten workers revealed having suffered psychological violence from students in the last six months preceding a survey conducted by the Federation of Public Service Employees, in 2023. And 35% indicate having suffered physical violence .
“And that’s just the tip of the iceberg,” says Éric Gingras. On a daily basis, when a child is in crisis and bites a teacher, for example, there will not necessarily be a statement. » If policies, regulations and other codes of conduct exist, they are not always applied. “We consider that these are special situations or it happens that the parents do not accept that the young person is suspended. »
According to the president of the CSQ, the message must be clear: violence is unacceptable everywhere, and especially in a school. “It’s a real social problem that affects all strata and must stop being trivialized,” he continues. We must ensure that we intervene for real when this happens, and make parents and the population responsible for zero tolerance. »
Starting with the start of the 2024 Quebec school year, students will have to take courses on violence and mental health and schools will have to document all cases of violence and bullying.
Labor shortage
This problem of violence in schools adds to the serious challenges that must be met in education, the poor quality of working conditions and, consequently, the shortage of manpower which undermines the school system. Nearly two months after the start of the school year, 917 teaching positions remained to be filled in Quebec public schools. The situation is similar in preschool and daycare, where the lack of educators is glaring.
Éric Gingras believes that investing in public services, particularly those which are predominantly female, is a political choice. “If we are not able to attract staff to work in early childhood, that means that working conditions, particularly for women, are not there,” he underlines. Ministers — men — prefer to invest in batteries or construction, where jobs are predominantly male. »
Currently, a ratio of one qualified educator in two is defined in daycare services. This was to be revised upwards in 2024, but the government of François Legault pushed the deadline back to 2027, due to the labor shortage. At the same time, Quebec launched paid training in construction, which made Sol Zanetti, member of Quebec solidaire, raise eyebrows, emphasizing that a male sector immediately received help, while the female sector must wait for years.
No lobbies
The president of the CSQ hopes that the working conditions of people in the education network will improve. “You have to be able to trust the people concerned to develop networks and make structuring decisions,” he continues. We must not simply please part of the population, but make social choices. »
In this regard, Éric Gingras discusses the housing problem. “We could have taken care of it two budgets ago, but we waited until there was a crisis to invest,” he denounces. This is what we blame. We must act beforehand, anticipate and listen to people when they warn that there is an issue in their area. »
One of the obstacles to this is Quebec’s propensity to “consider that civil society organizations and unions are only lobbies,” according to Mr. Gingras. “For the moment, we have a business government, which sees all the pressure groups around it as lobbies,” he observes. Trade union centers seek above all to advance rights, equality and society. » These two discordant visions promise months of intense discussions, but the CSQ remains determined to assert its own.
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