School staff threatened with job loss because of religious symbols ban, says FTQ

Dozens of workers in Quebec’s education system are being threatened with losing their jobs if they don’t stop wearing religious symbols at work.

Dozens of workers in Quebec’s education system are “living in uncertainty and fear” after being threatened with losing their jobs if they don’t stop wearing religious symbols, according to the Fédération des travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec (FTQ).

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“Support staff in school service centres, targeted by this discriminatory law, have received letters from their administration threatening them with job loss if they refuse to stop wearing any item resembling a religious symbol,” the federation claimed in a press release issued Thursday.

It argues that public administrations have “all the necessary tools” to intervene in cases of abuse or misconduct that could compromise a child’s education.

“In this sector, our members — the vast majority of whom are women — work in more than 40 job categories, including as childcare educators, special education technicians, aides for students with disabilities, school secretaries and so on," said FTQ President Magali Picard. “Already, several hundred are affected by this measure, which will have consequences for their careers and the work they love.”

• READ MORE: Quebec ban on religious symbols in daycares makes ‘them feel they no longer belong’: critics

The FTQ adds that each school service centre’s human resources (HR) department will be tasked with determining a case’s validity, adding that it “strikes us as highly arbitrary.”

“It doesn’t take a genius to understand that the upcoming layoffs will primarily target women, who are often college-educated and overqualified,” Picard insisted. “All of this can only have significant negative effects on thousands of students, parents and staff at these schools, as well as on the entire education system. We’re already facing a labour shortage; now we risk service disruptions.”

The FTQ says it wants Quebec’s new premier, Christine Fréchette, to “carefully analyze the consequences of this law, which once again discriminates against women, and to repeal it.”

• READ MORE: Unease, concern among some Quebecers after public prayer ban becomes law

“We are ready to discuss this at any time,” said Picard. “Let’s put an end to this hypocrisy, Madame Premier.”

The FTQ represents more than 600,000 workers and is considered one of Quebec’s largest labour federations.