Education Support Workers Are ‘the Glue that Binds’

One hundred and thirty years ago this year, over 50 labour unions from five provinces including British Columbia successfully lobbied the federal government for a labour-focused statutory holiday on the first Monday of September.

In 1894, the 40-hour work week, minimum wage and anti-discrimination protections for workers were still a fantasy.

To most people, says Paul Simpson, president of CUPE local 379 representing education support workers in Burnaby, and the K-12 Presidents’ Council which represents workers across B.C., Labour Day doesn’t mean much anymore.

“They don’t understand what labour fought for. People don’t understand why we do what we do,” he said.

But it does mean something to the public-school workers Simpson represents. So much so that he put his own vacation on hold to talk to The Tyee last week about the unsung heroes of public education: support workers.

Support workers such as education assistants, who help students with disabilities or additional learning needs in the classroom; tradespeople, who keep the school building running; custodians, who keep schools clean; and clerical staff, who handle paperwork and answer the phones.

“Ask a school to function without its clerical staff, and it’s going to flounder,” Simpson said. “It’s the glue that binds.”

As students across B.C. head back to school, The Tyee asked Simpson to break down how support workers keep schools running, why cuts to their jobs hurt students and what education workers want out of the next government. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

The Tyee: Before you worked for the union, what was your job?

Paul Simpson: I was groundskeeper before I became full-time president.

What brought you to that work?

Oh, just a job that was fun. I actually started with the school district as a custodian, then became a truck driver, then a groundskeeper who did custodial work in the afternoons, before I went full-time union. I liked being outdoors, liked being hands on.

What does a typical day look like as a groundskeeper for a school district?

For a lot of the year, it’s just keeping the grounds safe: cutting grass, pruning, checking field drainage, clear snow. Building playgrounds was always a fun one. Everything from the exterior of the building, including the roofs — cleaning, unclogging drains, taking leaves off — to all the pavement patching and fencing.

Why is that work important for public education?

It’s part of the overreaching foundation that we build for schools. It is just that simple. If you have puddles backing up outside the classroom doors, kids can’t come in. If you have unsafe situations in the playgrounds, they can’t be utilized. If you don’t have sports fields dragged and smooth, kids can’t play sports. There’d be no outdoor track and field. You need to maintain those areas.

What are some issues support workers are facing that you help represent as their union?

For the grounds, and I’ll include the trades in there, one of the more common issues we have is the underfunding. They’re understaffed, so they’re really addressing emergencies, not routine maintenance. We’re not able to build. Something breaks, we fix it, and that’s unfortunately just that chronic underfunding.

And it happens everywhere. Grass used to get cut regularly. Drains used to get dug out and cleaned regularly, and now they don’t. It doesn’t matter if you’re talking about toilet sewer lines or breaker panels or lighting upgrades. The upgrades only happen when the old systems fail.

That support staff that we represent through the entire school district, it’s just simply not funded. There is no targeted funding. A lot of districts are forced to target funding to teachers in that direct curriculum funding, where those other foundation pieces really are lacking. Then you hear that there’s no heat, or we’ve had a broken window for a week, or you’ve taught a whole day with vomit in the back of the classroom because there’s no custodians. Those stories are everywhere, where that foundation really does have cracks in it, literally and figuratively, to the point it’s just going to get a bigger and bigger problem.

Due to the pandemic, we had a huge push for HVAC systems to bring fresh air into the classrooms. But all those pumps and HVAC systems we put in have belts and moving parts that need to be maintained, that are not. So for a lot of those systems, you’re almost coming up to systematic failures on the fresh air, that was brought in due to the pandemic, which just is known to create healthier and more comfortable environments for the kids, thus better learning environments. They are failing simply because you don’t even have someone to change a belt on those motors.

Has work gone back to the pre-pandemic normal?

Absolutely. The one fun thing with the K to 12 sector is the population in this country, especially in this province, is still booming. So our work is getting bigger and bigger, and we can’t find enough staff, even the ones we can afford to hire. There’s obviously some jurisdictions that have declining enrolments due to cost of living and this and that, but most of the province is increasing enrolment. So there hasn’t been any shortfall in opportunities in K to 12.

Why do you think there are difficulties in hiring in the public education system right now?

In trades, I would say it’s salary. Although, you could look at the actual costing of the outside trades contractors districts are bringing in, compared to if they could hire in-house. When you’re panicking and doing an immediate purchase of a contractor versus trying to actually plan to hire a tradesperson, they just don’t see the bigger picture that I think is pretty simple.

One of the biggest recruitment and retention issues we’re having right now is EAs. Part of it is salary, but the other part is the demand. We’re having more people leaving than ever, and we have more EAs than ever, as well. People get stuck on “Well, they’re making $30 an hour.” But when you’re working five and a half hours a day or less, nine months of the year, because that’s all that trade allows you to work, your [take home] EA salary is $25,000. Even as a secondary job, it’s not enough to help pay the mortgage and feed the family.

The [lack] of EA staff creates, in some cases, a hostile and unsafe work environment, and burnout. EAs are seriously undervalued in the work and the services they provide. Look at every classic statement from every big public figure: if we don’t help the most vulnerable members of society, we’re not much of a society. EAs are supporting the most vulnerable members of society, children with unique needs.

We hear from the BC Teachers’ Federation all the time and it’s true: class sizes have gotten bigger. So if the teacher has 32 students and three of them have unique needs, the teacher doesn’t have time to give those needs the attention and the students start to fail. We have students that if the parents don’t participate in field trips, the students don’t go because there’s not enough EAs. You have children that are literally being left behind because the supports aren’t in place.

But EAs are not just assisting those unique ability learners. EAs are assisting the entire classroom. Without an EA, you face distraction and learning time loss for all the students. All students are affected.

These are needs for the schools, they’re not asks.

How are we in a situation where more people are leaving the education assistant profession, while districts are also hiring more education assistants?

Well, they’re trying to hire more. I don’t know of a district that says they have an ample amount of EAs. A lot of EAs have multiple jobs. That burnout from working two or three jobs, with the demands of an EA, is significant. And then the elephant in the room for a lot of EAs is the violence and the hardships that that brings with it.

Violence from students.

Yes.

We’re heading into a provincial election. What would your members like to see from the next government in terms of support for their fields?

Some districts spend a lot more money on EAs than other districts. Some districts spend a higher percentage of their budget on maintenance than others. And without targeted funding, unfortunately, a lot of people see it as “they’re just support staff.” They don’t realize schools do not function without the support staff workers.

It’s only a matter of time until something happens that, unfortunately, is going to make the front page for the wrong reasons.

What don’t you want to see from the next government?

Would it be inappropriate if I just say the BC Conservatives?

That’s up to you.

You can quote me on that. But it’s true. I don’t want to see a “money-saving” argument that unionized staff get this, and unionized staff get that, [implying unionized labourers already receive too much]. What we actually need in society is to bring everyone up, not to try to pull other people back.

Unfortunately, in today’s political climate, you have too many people that don’t see past the online rhetoric.

People were like, “In Alberta, we need a change.” And now all of a sudden they’re like, “What do you mean our lineup for a doctor is longer? Our medical system is now, all of a sudden, costing me more money? I can’t get the help I need. What do you mean our school doesn’t have the supports, the EAs or the programs?” You have people that are actually being harmed in Alberta. That’s next door to us. I’m not even talking about the craziness that’s down south. People in Alberta are suffering because other people bought that right-wing, conservative rhetoric.

What does Labour Day mean to you and your members?

I don’t think there’s [enough of a widespread] understanding of what Labour Day actually does and what can be taken away without labour organizing.

Look what’s happened in Ontario and the cuts Doug Ford has done. You look at what — I’m drawing a blank right now?

Scott Moe?

Yeah, you look at the attacks that have happened on labour, where pensions and rights have been taken away. [Labour organizing] is still relevant, it’s still needed. And I wish people would see that on Labour Day. I wish people would understand the value and the need for the people to get behind each other, which is exactly what unions are supposed to be.