Moncton’s Main street was full of protesters on Wednesday, as CUPE held a rally in support of New Brunswick’s teachers just down the road from a PSAC demonstration.
The New Brunswick Teachers’ Federation’s contract negotiations with the provincial government have stalled.
While they are not striking, they are holding rallies across the province.
Connie Keating, president of the New Brunswick Teachers’ Association, said the main points they are fighting for are better pay and better working conditions.
“Our CUPE members are our support system within our schools,” she said.
“They represent our educational assistants, our secretaries, our bus drivers, etc.”
She said recruitment and retention of teachers was a key point that was leading to difficult working conditions.
“Currently in schools because we are short staffed, our members are not able to have their preparation periods, other teachers are covering off. Our students are missing out on services from resource teachers guidance, principals,” she said on Wednesday.
École l’Odyssée teacher Stéphanie Babineau, who attended the rally, said her days regularly consist of doing non-education related tasks that means she has less time for her students.
She said fairer wages are essential to attracting new teachers to recruit enough employees to provide an acceptable standard of education.
“I look at all of my colleagues who are nearing the end of their profession and I’m truly worried about how we’re going to recruit and fill in all these positions when my colleagues leave for retirement,” she said.
French-speaking teachers are especially sought after all over the country.
“We compete for people to stay in the Francophone system, we compete for them to stay in Moncton or New Brunswick or wherever,” she said.
“But a lot of our Francophone teachers consider career options in immersion so we kind of fight with everyone to get people to stay.”
She said she’s seen many colleagues leave for opportunities in Ontario or farther out west, where the working conditions are similar but the pay is higher.