Chelsey St. Pierre – The Suburban LJI Reporter
The ongoing strikes of nurses and French-sector teachers joined last Friday by English-sector teachers are having significant consequences on strikers and parents alike. The nurses are partial walkouts. But the teachers are out full time forcing parents to balance work and family.
“We are always the bottom of the barrel,” school transport services worker John Rallis told The Suburban. “These bogus government offers are utterly disrespectful to us.”
“Before Legault got elected he was raving about how important school boards, nurses and essential workers were. And again during the pandemic. What does it look like now?” school payroll employee Kathleen said to The Suburban. “This is not just about salaries. We understand parents, we (many of us) have kids. Particularly parents with special needs kids need our support. Down the line this is for the students.”
“Teachers are important, but support staff are also important, we play an important role also for the students. The education system needs change. There were many reforms but without putting students first. We need to revolutionize so future generation receive adequate education. I tell my own kids that we are making history for the future generation of students,” Sandra, a school organization technician, told The Suburban.
When asked what is at the forefront of these efforts from her perspective, Sandra replied straightforwardly that special needs students are neglected. “We need to improve student services.”
Picketing without pay has also affected staff. Personal sacrifices are being made by many strike participants in order to hold the line. “Many of us (involved in the strike) have cancelled Christmas this year, or scaled down, hoping that this will make some kind of impact,” Kathleen explained.
Quebec Premier Francois Legault is calling the negotiation tactics “detrimental to families.” Many parents living through the difficult consequences of ongoing strike days agree. Others are willing to make the sacrifice in support of staff and in support of improving learning conditions for students.
A mom of three, one with special needs in elementary school, told The Suburban that although the financial pressures on her family are high at this time, she is in support of a long-term solution. “My son was integrated into the public system that offers extra support, but it is clear to me that he needs more and the staff are willing to offer it, but they need our support now to put pressure on the government to recognize these issues and act.”
“Our family can barely make ends meet. Christmas as we know it is cancelled. I am barely making it as is and missing work to care for my son while he is scheduled to be in school is exhausting my already limited financial resources,” a single working mom said to The Suburban. “At the end of this strike, they might get paid more but I won’t and if this continues, I might be out of a job.” n