A yellow-and-blue flood of 5,000 teachers flocked to the pavement in front of the National Assembly on Saturday afternoon, demanding better working conditions and sending a clear message to the Legault government.
Thousands of teachers, coming from all over Quebec demanding a reduction in their duties, held up signs with shocking phrases such as “Teacher seeks competent minister” to the sound of trumpets.
As expected, this week’s salary increase for elected officials went through the teachers and was on everyone’s lips.
“It’s humiliating and demeaning. If he can afford a raise, we deserve it just as much as our Ontario colleagues,” says Claudia Crète, a teacher at Saint-Jude School in Châteauguay.
Quebec Solidaire MP Ruba Ghazal, present in support of the teachers, took the opportunity to denounce the inconsistency of this increase in MPs’ salaries.
“It is shameful that the government has rushed to increase MPs’ salaries by 30% and is offering almost nothing to teachers. At the moment there is a shortage of teachers, not deputies,” said the deputy for riding Mercier.
leave the profession
For her part, the President of the Federation of Teachers’ Unions, Josée Scalabrini, believes that the current shortage of teachers is only due to a lack of recognition coupled with poor working conditions.
“Teaching is our passion and that’s why we studied at university for four years, but the working conditions in which we are placed mean that too many teachers leave their profession,” she explains.
Some even say they’re looking forward to retirement, not because of a lack of commitment, but because the job isn’t what it used to be.
“I’m almost glad to go. It’s not because I don’t like what I’m doing, but because it’s going to be extremely difficult in the next few years,” adds Marie-Claire Venne, who is retiring in a year.
Others even raised the white flag before they even got started. Such is the case of Nicolas Duchaine, who, in hindsight, does not regret having changed careers.
“Our teachers often told us that it was a thankless job and that we had to be passionate about it. When I did my internships, I realized that I didn’t care enough about the conditions there, and today it’s even worse,” says the now programmer-analyst.
Present for the occasion, comedian Pierre Hébert, whose wife is a teacher, took the opportunity to send a clear message before continuing with a dose of humor, which helped to relax the atmosphere a bit.
“We must not forget that there are students for whom this is the only healthy situation, who live in terrible circumstances and for whom teachers are the only concrete and comforting connection in their lives. ‘ he began before being cheered by the demonstrators.
Despite a series of corrections due to the approaching end of the school year, teachers insisted on highlighting the government’s inaction as the Prime Minister often talks about education being one of his priorities.
For its part, the union pointed out that if nothing were done in the next few months, the pressure would be increased.
what they said
“It’s really sad what’s happening right now. It seems to me that (François Legault) was initially interested in education.”
– Gabrielle Champagne, special education teacher.
“I sometimes get the impression that they themselves forget the importance of teachers and that some probably helped them to become what they are today.” – Benoît Champagne, teacher at the Notre-Dame-de-la-Paix school.
“We need a government that will sit down and say how can I help you and recognize that no, fifth secondary school is not enough to teach.” – Humorist Pierre Hébert, wife of a teacher.
“The offers that are being made now are not even equivalent to the increase in the cost of living”
– Éric Paradis, President of the Lac-Saint-Jean teachers’ union.
– In cooperation with the QMI Agency