As contract talks continue , 'woefully underpaid' education workers say they're struggling

Fran Van Gent has been an educational assistant (EA) with the Greater Essex County District School Board (GECDSB) for 20 years. Knowing what she knows now, if Van Gent had the opportunity to do it all again, she says she might have chosen to do something else.

"I maybe would have taken a different job," she said, citing the changing job requirements, the lack of respect for the job and government legislation limiting pay increases.

EAs work with children who are identified as needing support. Van Gent said that EAs used to only help children who had disabilities and needed help with tasks such as going to the bathroom, getting dressed and being fed.

Now, Van Gent says they primarily deal with children who have behavioural issues.

Van Gent initially became an EA because she wanted to help struggling children.

"One of the Grade 6 students at my lunch table said, 'If you only make $39,000 a year, why are you still working here?'" Van Gent said.

"I looked right at him and I said, 'You. You're the reason why I'm still working here.'"

Gale Simko-Hatfield, chairperson of the public school board, wrote a letter directly to Education Minister Stephen Lecce saying that EAs and early childhood educators (ECEs) are "woefully underpaid." 

The letter, dated Feb. 10, said that even when a new deal is reached between workers and the province, the workers will still be paid less than their colleagues in other school boards and organizations.

"This financial gap has made it difficult to retain these employees over time," the letter reads. "Replacing them with qualified occasional staff is a challenge we struggle to meet daily. Over the last couple of years, we have struggled to hire additional support staff due to low wages and increased incidents of workplace violence."

The board's concerns come as the Ontario Secondary School Teachers' Federation (OSSTF), the union that represents EAs and ECEs in the public board, is negotiating a new deal with the provincial government. 

In an interview with CBC News, the union declined to disclose specific demands but said what they want to see is based on what they call a lack of investment from not only the current government, but previous ones as well.

"What we are starting to see now after a global pandemic are the consequences of that lack of investment," said Martha Hradowy, OSSTF vice-president. "The Financial Accountability Officer came out last week and indicated that by the end of 2024-25, this government will have knowingly underspent publicly funded education by $1.1 billion."

The public board in Windsor-Essex is also calling for action from the province to address "significant underfunding" in special education due to high demand in the region.