The Conseil d’Etat (Council of State) has just issued its long-awaited opinion on Bill 8163 concerning the duties of educational and psychosocial staff (EPS) in public education. In particular, this law concerns the organization of the work of the centers of competence for specialized psychopedagogy and the support teams for pupils with special educational needs (ESEB) in primary and secondary schools.

The opinion of the Conseil d’Etat is devastating for the Minister of Education, to say the least: it contains no less than six formal objections to the law in its current form. These formal objections are largely in line with the criticisms made by the APCCA (Association du Personnel des Centres de compétence et de l’Agence) and the SEW/OGBL.

As a reminder: Bill 8163 is intended to implement the agreement signed on November 16, 2021 between Minister Meisch and three teachers’ associations affiliated to the CGFP. At that time, APCCA and SEW/OGBL had learned through the press of the signing of this agreement between the Ministry and a single syndicate, while negotiations and discussions in working groups involving all the unions and staff associations concerned had been at a standstill since September 1, 2021.

APCCA and SEW/OGBL felt that the agreement signed without them was far from satisfactory. For APCCA and SEW/OGBL, as the Conseil d’Etat pointed out in its opinion, “this agreement […] remained vague on many points, only partially reflected the discussions in the working groups, did not meet the objective of introducing adequate definitions of staff tasks and even constituted a deterioration in the working conditions of the staff concerned”.

Faced with Minister Meisch’s refusal to continue negotiations after the November 16, 2021 agreement was signed, APCCA and SEW/OGBL decided to initiate conciliation proceedings. However, on June 28, 2022, well after the legal deadline of six weeks and without a meeting having taken place, the president of the conciliation commission declared the dispute inadmissible on the grounds that an agreement had already been reached between the minister and another syndicate.

APCCA and SEW/OGBL challenged this decision to reject the dispute – a unilateral decision that had no legal basis and was in clear contradiction with international legislation on the right to strike – and filed an action for annulment with the Administrative Court. The case is still pending.

At a time when the trade union rights of APCCA and SEW/OGBL have been trampled on, as has the right to strike of the staff concerned, and following the opinion of the Conseil d’Etat, it is now clear that the bill to implement the November 16, 2021 agreement cannot be voted on before the summer recess, and therefore cannot come into force at the start of the 2023 school year (it was originally scheduled to come into force at the start of the 2022 school year).

While Bill 8163 is unsatisfactory in many respects, contains numerous legal uncertainties, does not reflect the realities on the ground, and does not provide for transitional measures for existing staff, APCCA and SEW/OGBL remain fully committed to a regulation covering the organization of work for EPS staff in Competence Centers and ESEBs. However, such legislation must be based on a genuine dialogue with all stakeholders, starting with the trade union representatives of the staff concerned.

APCCA and SEW/OGBL hope that such a dialogue will be possible with the Minister of Education in the next government, in order to reach a better agreement that truly takes into account the needs and expectations of EPS staff in Competence Centres and ESEBs.

 

Press release of APCCA and SEW/OGBL,
July 14, 2023