Dozens of school support staff from the Montreal area demonstrated in front of the downtown Montreal offices of Premier Francois Legault Saturday afternoon.
Among the the demonstrators were school secretaries, administrators, special education technicians and dozens of other types of school staff. They came from several English school boards including Wilfrid Laurier, New Frontiers and Riverside.
The workers say contract negotiations with Quebec have hit a standstill and that already overwhelmed staff are continually being given more work to do.
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According to the workers, COVID-19 has only made an already difficult situation worse, and they feel protesting is the only way to get the government to listen.
“We’ve got people stepping down, resigning, taking early retirement, burnout. They don’t know which way to turn anymore,” said Kate Baldwin, Sir Wilfrid Laurier School Board support staff union president.
The workers said class bubbles are often broken, and working conditions continue to deteriorate. They say they want a three year contract with two per cent salary increases each year, but according to them the government is offering too little.
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“We want to see better salaries, fair salaries for our workers. We want to see safer working conditions,” said Baldwin.
Many of the demonstrators were dressed in Halloween costumes. Police officers watched them closely.
The Quebec Treasury Board did not respond to a request for comment on Saturday.
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