In three weeks, the first school holidays of the year begin. Students will have a break from the pressure of school. Parents will also have a chance to relax. However, there is a category of people for whom “school holidays” means “extra work”. These are the extracurricular animators.
During the holidays, they can work up to 55 hours per week. The rest of the year, they work with irregular hours, for a salary that barely exceeds the minimum wage in the capital. This is one of the many reasons that led the Animation section of Unsa-Ville de Paris to file a strike notice for the entire month of October.
Staff shortages
The union invites employees to go on strike for the entire month of October during the interclass period. This is a strategic part of the day, during which the lunch service takes place. “This is the most problematic time for us, we have too many things to manage at the same time,” explains Claude Lasserre, trade union delegate of Unsa-Animation in the City of Paris. For him, the strike makes sense “for an improvement in our working conditions and the safety of children.” Safety is compromised by the lack of staff.
Indeed, the animation sector is facing a severe shortage of animators, and Paris is no exception: “Throughout the city, on average, we have two fewer animators per structure,” says the union official, who alerts on the “non-replacement of staff, lack of resources and personnel.”
“We sometimes find ourselves being an animator for 25 or 30 children [during the interclass period],” laments Claude Lasserre. During this time, in addition to monitoring the behavior of the children, the animators must take care of special cases: “We have children with allergies, others who have disabilities, and others who have special needs.”
Insufficient remuneration
A stressful workload that is insufficiently paid for the trade unionist: “The interclass period is paid €10 per hour, while study time is paid €20.” The study period, which takes place after classes and/or extracurricular activities, involves supervising students while they do their homework. This is a seemingly less tiring job, yet it is paid twice as much as the interclass period. “Our demand is therefore simple, that all shifts be paid €20 per hour.”
Indeed, many animators are in a precarious situation. Until they pass the competitive exam to enter the civil service, they are either temporary or contractual. This is the case for Alexis, a temporary animator in Paris for 3 years: “We cannot provide proper lunch service when we have so many children to handle.”
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Although dissatisfied with his working conditions, Alexis continues to work: “I cannot go on strike as a temporary worker, otherwise I lose money and it will be complicated to get a contract later.”
To address this situation, Claude Lasserre wishes “to provide job security for temporary and contractual workers.” When contacted, Patrick Bloche, deputy mayor of Paris in charge of education and early childhood, has not yet responded to our questions. However, he states, in an interview with 20 Minutes, that the demands of the animators are “legitimate.”
In this regard, Claude Lasserre affirms that he is working “with Mr. Bloche. We are working with the city on validation of acquired qualifications, to allow employees who have been working for a long time to obtain a diploma.” Now, there is hope that the Paris Council will vote for an increase in investment in popular education.
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