Exasperated by the slowness of the negotiations with Quebec to renew their working conditions, the school principals of Montreal have undertaken pressure tactics. Principals and directors of schools in the rest of Quebec are about to join the protest movement, in the absence of an agreement in the coming days.
Principals of elementary and secondary schools are one of the rare groups of middle managers in the Quebec state to use this tactic to make themselves heard by the government. The pressure tactics are administrative in nature and do not affect student services.
As of this Monday, the principals of the three French-language school service centers on the island have stopped filling out a series of reporting forms required by the Ministry of Education — on COVID-19 and on other school organization issues, in particular.
“Our members are dissatisfied, they lack recognition,” says Kathleen Legault, president of the Montreal Association of School Principals (AMDES).
The working conditions of school administrators are generally modeled on those of teachers. Teachers have been entitled to salary increases described as “historic” over the past year, in the hope of enhancing the profession. Levels were merged at the start of the career, to attract and retain young teachers. The top salary also increased to $91,132.
The discussions between Quebec and the school principals drag on, because the associations of principals and directors are demanding COVID bonuses like those paid to executives in the health network. In addition, retroactive salary increases for 2019-2022, which were to be paid in May, “are unlikely to be paid before the holidays”, indicates the AMDES in a bulletin sent to its members last week.
On the front line
The discontent of school principals is growing “both in Montreal and outside the island”, specifies the message of the Association. Several vice-principals find themselves in a very special situation: their salary is less than that of their teachers who are at the top of the ladder.
Principals and directors have been on the front line since the start of the pandemic: they have managed health measures, remedial programs for students in difficulty, as well as the countless absences of students and staff members at cause of COVID-19. The principals worked evenings and weekends, among other things to find staff or to conduct public health investigations into contacts of infected students.
“If there are 10 teachers missing in the morning because of the pandemic, they find 10 people to look after the young people, who are in the midst of a staff shortage. It is the departments that have this responsibility, ”recalls Kathleen Legault.
For their part, the Quebec Federation of Educational Establishment Directors (FQDE) and the Quebec Association of School Management Personnel (AQPDE) are awaiting the results of a negotiation session scheduled for Wednesday before initiating means depression.