Union Alert Over Proposed Teaching Cuts: A Cheeky Analysis
Right, gather round folks! Let’s talk education—and not the kind that tries to explain why the teacher’s pen is always red while the student’s paper is forever blue. Seriously though, the unions in France have just thrown down the gauntlet—yes, that’s right, they’ve filed a social alert regarding the potential elimination of 4,000 teaching positions in the 2025 budget. It’s like watching a well-rehearsed play, but perhaps less entertaining than watching someone try to do math in front of a class full of teenagers.
Meet the Cast: Unions vs. Government
In a beautifully dramatic twist, all the union organizations—FSU, Unsa, FO, CFDT Education, Public Research Training, CGT Educ’Action, Snalc, Sud-Éducation—have united like the Avengers of the education world. They penned an angry letter to Minister Anne Genetet, expressing their alarm as if the school bell had just rung for the last time. They claim that “a red line has been crossed”—which frankly sounds more like a Henry VIII lament than a serious budgetary concern. And it’s hard to miss the irony: while schools are floundering, the government’s response is reminiscent of a bad magician’s trick—‘abracadabra, let’s do more with less!’ Spoiler alert: it usually results in confusion and an audience that’s seen better days.
Let’s Do This: Strikes Ahoy!
But hang onto your chalkboards folks, because the unions are not just making noise. They’ve filed a “social alert,” which is essentially the prequel to a national strike notice. Set your calendars: from November 4, 2024, to March 31, 2025, we’ll be witnessing a periodic reminder from unions that they’re not just going to sit quietly in the back of the class. They want a meeting with the Minister of Education within three days—talk about blitzkrieg negotiations!
The Justification: Dropping Student Numbers
Now, why are we here? Why are 4,000 teaching positions apparently being deleted from the budget like last Friday’s leftovers? The government is blaming a drop in the number of students—97,000 fewer to be precise—as the primary villain in this tale. The budget is claiming the only logical solution is to make our beloved teachers disappear like last week’s homework. Meanwhile, they’re planning on throwing in 2,000 additional AESH—those wonderful folks who support students with disabilities—because clearly that’ll somehow balance the equation. It’s like saying, “Don’t worry, we reduced the number of cars on the road by half, but here’s a really cool bicycle!” Listen, you can’t ride a bicycle to a conference when you need a school bus!
Déjà Vu: A Familiar Tale
This isn’t even the first act of this tragicomedy. Last year’s budget slashed 2,500 teaching jobs under the same pretenses—those cheeky, vanishing students! And guess what? They even had a heroic move where they decided to keep didn’t eliminate 484 positions in secondary education after a “shock of knowledge” reform announcement. Plot twist, folks!
Where Do We Go From Here?
So, what’s the takeaway here? If you thought the education sector was in for a wild ride, you might be right! The unions are set to stage a battle royale, and it looks like they won’t be taking any prisoners in this fight for their jobs (and let’s face it, our kids’ education). But until the dust settles and our drama club finds its next performance, we’ll just have to wait and see how this story unfolds. Will there be negotiations or are we heading for a school strike of melodramatic proportions? Keep your pencils sharpened and your erasers nearby; it’s going to get interesting!
The elimination planned in the 2025 budget of 4,000 teaching positions is not happening. This Monday, all the union organizations (FSU, Unsa, FO, CFDT Education, Public Research Training, CGT Educ’Action, Snalc, Sud-Éducation) announced that they had filed a social alert. A first step before a strike notice.
In a letter addressed to Minister Anne Genetet, the unions are alarmed by the elimination of positions planned in the 2025 draft budget presented by Prime Minister Michel Barnier. “A red line has been crossed: at a time when public schools are doing badly, the government’s only response is to close positions and therefore maintain the illusion that we can do better with less,” write the unions.
A meeting between the unions and the minister within 3 days
A social alert is therefore filed, “prior to filing a unitary national strike notice, from Monday November 4, 2024 until Monday March 31, 2025 inclusive”. “The seriousness of the moment and the measures envisaged against the public education service, its staff and its students lead us to react in an inter-union framework unprecedented since the establishment of this procedure in 2008.” Which implies a meeting you “within three days” between the unions and the Minister of Education, in order to initiate “prior negotiation”.
Removals justified by the drop in the number of students
The 2025 National Education budget, the state’s largest expenditure item, provides for 4,000 fewer teaching positions compared to 2024, mainly in nursery and elementary school, the ministry said last week. Rue de Grenelle justifies this drop in teaching positions by “the drop in the number of students which should accelerate with 97,000 fewer students at the start of the 2025 school year”. The budget provides, on the other hand, for the financing of 2,000 additional AESH (supporters of students with disabilities).
Last year, the 2024 finance bill provided for the elimination of 2,500 teaching positions, also justified by the demographic drop in the number of students, estimated by the ministry at 83,000 fewer students at the start of the 2024 school year. But to allow the implementation of the so-called “shock of knowledge” reform, Gabriel Attal decided to cancel the elimination of the 484 positions planned in secondary education and to create 574.
