A specialized educator denounces the working conditions in which she had to supervise her students, while there is a lack of staff in the school environment.
Mélanie Allard left the ship of education after 8 years of service, because the working conditions became very difficult, especially the psychological and physical violence, she explained.
“It doesn’t even make sense anymore. Getting hit, getting thrown off benches, desks, chairs. Verbally, how we can talk to each other, but we can’t react to that. We must manage the crisis by remaining firm in a good mood, ”she described.
She also denounces the lack of support she received from her employer, as well as the lack of salary recognition in relation to the number of years of experience, as well as the lack of suitable equipment to carry out her tasks.
According to the educator, who also filled her hours in daycare, errors on payslips are also frequent.
“We pay 2,200 people every two weeks. Can it happen that there is 25 minutes of support staff in such a school that has not yet been registered in their file? Yes. Are the majority paid? Well, yes,” replies the director general of the Center de services scolaire de l’Énergie, Denis Lemaire.
Situations like these are not uncommon according to the Mauricie Support Employees Union. Difficult conditions drive employees away and the solution would be to have more full-time staff.
“In the Service Center, there is actually a lot of part-time work. It’s less appealing to go part-time when you have a family life,” explained union president Guy Larouche.
“We may be in an election period, we will not find the money tomorrow morning. If we assume, we put everyone there at 35 hours, well, that means that instead of having 700, we will perhaps have 400,” added the director general of the Service Center.
Since the beginning of the year, 15 support staff have resigned.