This text is part of the special Syndicalism booklet
They give half of the university courses in the province and yet they suffer from chronic precariousness, according to the National Federation of Teachers of Quebec (FNEEQ). In view of National Lecturers’ Day, November 22, the FNEEQ urges universities and the government to better recognize this essential employment group.
“Some lecturers have 30 or 35 years of teaching experience at university, and they have the equivalent of a ‘temporary visa’, which they will have to continually renew”, deplores Christine Gauthier, vice- president and political leader of the university grouping for the FNEEQ. The Federation brings together the unions of several higher education teachers in Quebec, including the majority of college teachers and university lecturers.
“Instructors teach about half of university courses at the undergraduate level, calculates Mme Gauthier, who is also a lecturer in the Department of Foundations and Practices in Education at Université Laval. Despite the scope of their work, they are often considered peripheral personnel. »
While some lecturers are postgraduate students, many are by career choice. “When are we going to be able to innovate to move beyond this model of contracts to be renewed every four months, which does not take into account the large number of experienced lecturers who have proven themselves, who are experts in their field? , but who don’t have a guarantee if they will teach in the next session? asks the union representative.
Impact on quality of life
Lack of recognition and precarious working conditions can affect lecturers in different ways. To maintain their seniority and their priority on the list of lecturers, some may accept all the courses offered by the establishments and thus become overloaded.
“We find ourselves in strategies that will be difficult to hold in the long term”, observes Mme Gauthier, who adds that, unlike primary and secondary schools, universities do not really have to deal with a shortage of manpower. “If you are told in December that you are giving a lesson in January, you pedal to prepare for your lesson. Especially since you have to make sure that your students will enjoy the course, because there is nothing that guarantees new tasks the following year. »
“The lecturers will sometimes give a course, three courses, or find themselves without a course, continues Christine Gauthier. Sometimes they are required to teach at several universities. Daily life may mean being unemployed in the summer, doing research, but doing it on a voluntary basis. We are always trying to build several strategies to make our place, but this place is difficult to hold. »
Challenging the status quo
The contribution of university lecturers is recognized on National Lecturer Day, November 22. Despite the creation of this day by the FNEEQ a little over 20 years ago, there is still a lot of work to recognize the contribution of the latter within universities, according to Ms.me Gautier.
The FNEEQ calls for greater recognition of the role of the latter within educational institutions and in the public sphere. This could mean having a voice in decision-making about curricula and teaching, or including lecturers when talking about the teaching profession in political discourse. Finally, the FNEEQ is asking for greater job stability for this important group of jobs in universities.
Christine Gauthier hopes that raising awareness among university decision-makers will allow for greater openness for the negotiation of the collective agreement for each institution. For example, the collective agreement at Laval University now allows lecturers to benefit from longer-term contracts, sometimes spanning several years, she says.
“We are in a model of piecemeal funding according to the number of full-time students, which universities cannot predict, which weakens the decisions that can be taken to stabilize employment, adds Ms.me Gauthier on the government’s role in stabilizing these jobs. If university funding is more stable, where there are not just funds earmarked for projects, we ensure that staff enjoy job stability. »
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