A quarter of the childcare workers in the agglomeration of Brive-la-Gaillarde, in Corrèze, were in the streets of the town this Tuesday, November 19 in the morning. They denounce poor working conditions that have emerged over time in this essential profession… And yet so little recognized.
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They pound the pavement with determined steps, chant songs and carry signs in the air denouncing their poor working conditions. “Despised, mistreated, poorly paid”, can we read on one of them. “No babies at the locker. They are not sardines”is it written on another. Dressed in their blue and pink tunics, around sixty childcare workers from the Brive-la-Gaillarde area met this Tuesday, November 19.
In Brive-la-Gaillarde, around sixty childcare assistants were in the streets this morning. They are protesting against poor working conditions.
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© France Télévisions
They denounce a general fed up: “Today, our working conditions have deteriorated significantlywhispers Mélanie, childcare assistant in the Brive area. We are always asked for more, but with fewer resourcescontinues the woman who has around ten years of experience behind her.
It's hard physically and mentally.
MelanieChildcare assistant in the Brive area
“The norm today is one professional for every five children who don't walksays Mélanie. She immediately continues: you have to imagine yourself with five children to support. There is one who cries because he is hungry, a second who cries because he wants to sleep, a third because his diaper is full and so on.lists the auxiliary, specifying that around her, the crying never stops. At the same time, it's the only means of expression for children, but it's not easy to meet all these needs at the same time when you're alone.”
Mélanie has been a childcare assistant in Brive-la-Gaillarde for ten years. She notes that her profession has changed a lot in a decade and deplores the poor working conditions which persist over time.
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© France Télévisions
Apart from these constant cries, Mélanie also reports a physical illness. “We work in places where everything has been designed for children, particularly the furniture., says the professional. That is to say that we are always bending down, either to give them food on small tables, or to play on the mats with them. Taking care of young children is also a job that is physically hard, even if I always fight for them.”
After ten years of experience in the profession, Mélanie no longer always recognizes the profession that she embraced by vocation. “When I hear today that the profession wants to extend to people who have not been trained, I see redshe confides. We have obtained diplomas to practice this profession. Because looking after your own child at home has nothing to do with looking after other children in daycare centers.”recalls Mélanie.
Aurélie has been a multi-reception childcare assistant for over ten years. Today she regrets the poor working conditions in her profession and does not know how long she will stay in the profession.
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These working conditions lead some childcare assistants to rethink their place within the profession. Aurélie, who has a few years of work more than Mélanie, explains that she is completely exhausted. “Even if I love my job, and that’s what keeps me going today, I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to keep going.”
“This morning, sixty childcare workers from the Brive area are present in the streetsexplains Carine Bielly, CGT secretary of Brive Agglo CCAS. That's a quarter of the total workforce.”
An important presence, which can be explained by their general fed up: “Today, they are fighting for their working conditions. Particularly in relation to the supervisor-child rate which does not correspond to their expectations. They want a decree which would change this situation.”
Carine Bielly is CGT secretary for the agglomeration of Brive-la-Gaillarde, in Corrèze. This Tuesday, November 19, she is participating in the demonstration of childcare assistants who are struggling to get by in this rapidly changing profession.
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© France Télévisions
Revising this rate downward would, according to the CGT secretary, more generally reduce the risks of abuses present within the profession. “When they manage several children, it is difficult to meet all the needsexplains Carine Bielly. We know today that abuses exist in private nurseries, it is a national phenomenonshe insists. I don't want this to happen in public daycare centers.”
A monthly bonus of one hundred euros?
If the childcare assistants are present in the street this Tuesday morning, it is also to hope to receive the attractiveness bonus. “This monthly bonus of one hundred euros depends on the goodwill of the mayor of the municipalityexplains the CGT secretary of the Brive-la-Gaillarde agglomeration. However, they should all have it, since of these hundred euros, the communities only have to pay 34 euros, the rest being financed by the National Family Allowance Fund. For them, it would be recognition of the work accomplished.”
