5 April 2020
The Fédération du personnel de soutien scolaire holds the government responsible
The Fédération du personnel de soutien scolaire (FPSS-CSQ) has confirmed that an emergency daycare educator has tested positive for COVID-19.
“For three weeks now, we have been urging the government to issue clear and uniform hygienic measures to all school boards running emergency daycare services. All the measures issued so far remain unclear and imprecise. We still don’t know if we should disinfect doorknobs 3 times a day or 10 times, for example!” says FPSS-CSQ President Éric Pronovost. “What is happening today is unfortunate, but it was also predictable. The worst part is that this daycare remains open!”
Apparently, the Human Resources Department of the school board and public health authorities are currently discussing what steps to take next. “I wonder how it is possible that no action has been taken yet. We have known about this since early this morning. Did the government not have a game plan already decided to handle such a situation?” asks Pronovost pointedly.
No premium for frontline support staff
This announcement comes at the same time the government confirmed that school support staff working on the frontlines in emergency daycare services will not eligible for a premium.
“It makes no sense! The janitors taking care of the SDGUs and the educators working in them are taking enormous risks by going to work. We have proof of this today with this first case,” says Pronovost. “The personnel on the ground are afraid, as they should be! The government is not protecting them and compensating them even less.”