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Since November 1st, the CAQ has imposed a hiring freeze in schools and colleges. As it did with health care, it claims that the quality of services will not be affected. However, Philippe Soucy, president of the professional's union of Cégep de Saint-Laurent, warns that this measure will overload staff and risk degrading services.
Mr. Soucy explains to The North Star that when a person employed at the college leaves, he or she will not be replaced. This non-replacement of positions also applies to disability or maternity leaves, which will inevitably add to the pressure on college staff.
He adds that “we can foresee an increase in the workload to be carried out. For precarious positions, it also means that their positions will not be renewed, which could result in job losses.”
The CAQ government claims that this hiring freeze only affects administrative positions, and that direct student services will therefore not be affected. According to Philippe Soucy, this is not really what will happen.
“From our point of view, it's absurd, because we all contribute to providing services to students, even if it's not directly. As an IT analyst, I know that if I leave and am not replaced, my colleagues will have to prioritize certain files and services offered by my team. In the end, the quality of teaching will be affected.
A few weeks before the hiring freezes were introduced, Treasury Board President Sonia Lebel had promised that there would be no cuts this year. Now, she says they are “reducing spending growth, not cutting spending”. Anything to avoid saying 'austerity'.
However, even if the words change, the consequences of such measures on working conditions and the quality of education services are likely to be the same.
In a press release, the CSN union president Caroline Senneville highlights the serious risks of perverse effects. If the administrative jobs that are not replaced disappear from the public sector payroll, it is always possible that they will be outsourced to private companies. Could this be the start of a new wave of privatization?
“By restricting hiring in support teams, establishments will be tempted to transfer tasks to the private sector, diverting budgets to subcontracting while concealing the true costs. The government will then be able to claim savings, even as it creates a new burden on public finances.”
In the same article, it is mentioned that other problems are likely to arise, such as difficulties in communications between student families and schools, major delays in the management of school operations such as orders for teaching staff, registrations, billing, and even school transport.