(Montreal) The union which represents the support employees of five school service centers in the Montreal region accuses Quebec of keeping open to all daycare services and specialized schools until the holiday break and then reopening them until to January 10.
The Union of Professional and Office Employees, affiliated with the FTQ, says it “strongly disagrees” with the government decision. He believes that Quebec must order the closure of schools by maintaining daycare services offered only for the children of workers in essential services, such as firefighters and police officers, like what was done at the start of the pandemic.
The risk of transmission of the virus is “enormous” at the moment, repeated many times on Wednesday morning, Jean-François Labonté, the president of the local section which represents school support employees at the Marie-Victorin School Services Center. , in interview with The Canadian Press.
“We are very worried,” he added. Half of the cases of contamination in Quebec happen in our schools. And the staff, we feel very poorly protected with the issue of ventilation. There are not detectors in all classrooms, in all premises yet. ”
When the new health restrictions were announced on Monday, Quebec indicated that classes in primary and secondary schools and vocational and adult training centers would be suspended the next day.
The Minister of Health, Christian Dubé, had explained that primary schools would however remain accessible until the holidays to allow vaccination and the distribution of rapid tests. School daycare services were to remain open until the holidays, giving priority to health workers.
According to Mr. Labonté, the procedural mask worn by school employees is insufficient. “It should be N95 masks,” he said, adding in passing that support staff should be prioritized for the administration of the third dose and that a “risk premium” should be paid.
While Quebec continues to break records in terms of new COVID-19 infections, Premier François Legault will provide an update on the health situation at 6 p.m. Wednesday evening during a press conference with Minister Dubé and the national director of public health, Horacio Arruda.