This text is part of the special Syndicalism section
“We want to help the government without necessarily complaining,” says the president of the Federation of Education Unions (FSE), Josée Scalabrini. Compromise with him so that he can move the system as a whole forward. We worked closely with the government and the opposition parties on the bill on working conditions. Unfortunately, we came up with solutions, but the law was emptied of its content. “
The Legault government ignored the consultation of the social partners on several subjects, including the reform of the Ethics and Religious Culture course. A large citizen consultation was organized on the Internet but it was not very reliable, because the participants could vote several times and above all, the teachers were not consulted. Their opinion was not taken into account and the new version ignored the assessment drawn up for several years on this subject. Not to mention the fact that the main stakeholders were informed about the content of this reform during a speech and a press briefing by the Minister of Education.
Relearn to work calmly
“We are just performers for the Caquista government. We are not consulted on several subjects, although we are in the best position to talk about this. The FSE wants to do unionism differently, but the government and the ministry will have to agree to change their culture, and stop thinking that they have the universal truth. We must relearn how to work calmly between partners, which will lead to better results and therefore a better education system. “
Like many other professional sectors in Quebec, education is experiencing a glaring labor shortage. Young people are turning away from training leading to a trade, because they realize that the working conditions are not good. The unattractive salary, which places Quebec at the bottom of the Canadian scale, 200-day work contracts or the dilapidated state of schools are all obstacles to recruiting a new generation of Quebec teachers.
“The government will understand that it cannot work without the people on the ground,” believes Mr.me Scalabrini. Our schools are falling apart across the province and fewer and fewer people are coming to work in education. The positive point is that we, unions, want to do unionism differently. If the government also accepts to realize that it has to manage differently, then we are on the right track. “
It will take the government and the ministry to agree to change their culture, and stop thinking that they have the universal truth.
The trade unionist insists on the fact that the needs of students must be met, who are the first affected by the shortage of teachers. To do this, she believes that we must restore the desire to teach young people so that they return to education.
“There have been a lot of departures in recent years,” she recalls. Teachers must be encouraged to stay in order to train the new generation. “
Prof, my pride!
This year, the FSE is launching the third campaign of its operation Prof, ma pride !, which promotes vocational training through portraits of private sector employees who decide to teach their profession. To do this, they return to the school benches to acquire the theoretical bases of teaching. The teaching status is then valued as a whole, and the students have access to high quality education.
“Teachers have no professional order in Quebec,” emphasizes Josée Scalabrini. However, the Education Act protects teachers. Few people know it, it is necessary that our politicians make known this law to attract the young people in the way of education. In general, we have to learn to talk to each other again in Quebec, and in particular to talk about education. “
The President of the FSE recalls that education is the basis of any healthy democratic society.
“The future of Quebec depends on sustained financial and educational efforts to provide the best possible education and thus train the Quebec elite of tomorrow,” she concludes.