Atsem on strike: “We are the invisible ones, but without us there is no kindergarten” – Le Monde

“Demanding barbecue” in Allonnes (Sarthe), more classic rallies in front of many town halls in the country… Some 50,000 specialized territorial agents of nursery schools (Atsem) were called to strike, Monday, September 5, by the CGT-public service unions and UNSA-territorial. Profession made up of 99% women according to the CGT, the Atsem ask to receive the monthly bonus of 183 euros that the Ségur de la santé has granted to childcare workers, caregivers and home helpers. Territorial civil servants of category C, they also ask to integrate the category B of the civil service and wish that the hardship of their functions be fully recognized. This list of grievances is up to the lack of recognition from which the profession has suffered for years, supports Delphine Depay, federal referent of the CGT for Atsem. In his eyes, “the salaries are extremely low, not up to the missions and qualifications”. Conditional on obtaining a “early childhood” CAP and passing the competition, an Atsem career begins at the minimum wage and ends at around 1,700 euros net, for around forty hours of work per week. . “Macron said that we were essential” “We are the great forgotten of Ségur, but Macron said that we were essential”, regrets Sylvia Sowa-Vérot, 40, who has been practicing the profession since 2003 in Saint-Etienne (Loire) . We are invisible, but without Atsem, there is no kindergarten. In the day of the specialized agent, there is first of all the material preparation of the class, the reception of parents and children, then the organization of educational workshops. Then comes the accompaniment to the canteen, the organization of the siesta and the awakening, the departure of the children and finally the cleaning of the class. It is also necessary to accompany the little ones to the toilets and teach them cleanliness. “Many, in their forties, are automatically retired for disability, with low salaries”, Delphine Depay, CGT referent There is also, each July, the dreaded task of bricking the basic school all the way, involving emptying the classrooms of all their furniture, waxing the floors, washing the games one by one. “That month is exhausting, confides Mélodie (she does not wish to give her last name), 43, Atsem in Aisne since 2009. It takes a good week to recover. Among the sources of physical hardship, the Atsem mention the carrying of children and postures close to the ground which cause back pain, constant noise, or even manual activities which cause musculoskeletal disorders. “Many, in their forties, are automatically retired for disability, with low salaries”, assures Ms. Depay, for whom the recognition of arduousness should open the right to “an early retirement without discount”. Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers Health, education: “We must recreate a dynamic labor market in the professions and sectors regulated by the State” A suffering educational role The need for recognition is all the more acute as the missions of the Atsem have extended since the distant era of the “ladies of service”. From 2014, municipalities entrusted them with the management of “new extracurricular activities”, to avoid hiring facilitators. Then in 2018, a decree made them “belong” to the educational community, in which they had until then only “participated”. In the eyes of Gaëlle Lenôtre, 52, Atsem for twenty years in Six-Fours-les-Plages (Var), it is precisely this educational role that cannot be implemented, given the current organization: “A from the moment the teacher and his Atsem do not have the same employer [éducation nationale pour l’un, commune pour l’autre], there is no time to work together. She cites educational meetings organized during the lunch break, when the Atsem are busy in the canteen. “We would like to be integrated into the educational community, as our status provides, but in reality we cannot”, Gaëlle Lenôtre, 52 years old, Atsem “We would like to be integrated into the educational community, as our status provides, but in fact, we can’t, ”she laments. On the other hand, “during the Covid, we were requisitioned to go and do the disinfection in retirement homes…” Delphine Depay assures that the CGT asked the Ministry of Transformation and Public Action twice, at the end of June and the beginning of August , the opening of negotiations, without response to date. In the cabinet of the minister, Stanislas Guerini, they say they are following the mobilization “with attention”, while referring the discussions to the more general framework of the “career and remuneration project, which will be launched soon for all public service professions”. “Nervously, we’re at the end of it”, alert while waiting for Mélodie, in Aisne. Due to the heaviness of the profession, “a lot of colleagues are thinking of retraining; I’m not disgusted enough yet. Read also: Article reserved for our subscribers “What world after for extracurricular? » Julien Lemaignen