French teachers’ union calls the second major school strike over Covid “chaos”
French teachers’ unions called for a second major strike on Monday this week to protest the government’s Covid testing and isolation protocol, which they say is seriously disrupting classes.
The move follows a one-day strike last week that led to the closure of half of the country’s primary schools, according to unions, which accuse authorities of not establishing clear rules that would keep as many students in school as possible.
Teachers say class disruptions have become unmanageable with the spread of the highly contagious variant of Omicron coronavirus, with many parents struggling to get vaccination times for their children and long queues for tests outside pharmacies.
In response, the government promised to provide five million high-quality FFP2 face masks to school staff and to hire over 3,000 substitute teachers to replace those forced into isolation after receiving Covid or coming into contact with an infected person.
But that was not enough for the unions, who said the new strike on Thursday would be a prelude to a “massive” nationwide strike on January 27.
“The chaos that results from dealing with this health crisis requires strong action, in addition to the commitments made by the Prime Minister and the Minister of Education,” said a group of four unions in a statement also signed by FCPE, France’s largest parent union. .
They want the government to hire enough substitutes to replace all absent teachers as the Covid cases spread rapidly across schools.
Children who test positive for the virus must stay home for up to 10 days while their classmates are forced to take three tests in four days.
Teachers also want more personal protective equipment “well beyond the promised amounts” and more basic investment in the French education system, where the average teacher’s salary lags behind many other European nations.
However, the call for a new Thursday strike was not joined by other main trade union groups, including Snuipp-FSU, the largest among primary school teachers.
(AFP)
