A work programme for the SSPM and the USS
At the delegates∙e∙s meeting on November 8, the delegates∙e∙s of the SSPM were convinced by the outcome of the negotiations conducted by their central committee with the USS and decided that the SSPM would remain a member of the USS, but as an associate member.
On March 29, delegates decided that the SSPM would withdraw from the Swiss Federation of Trade Unions (SFTU), as the dues paid to the SFTU simply weighed too heavily on the budget. Some delegates criticized the fact that they saw no concrete benefit from this affiliation. However, the delegates∙e∙s gave the Central Committee a negotiating mandate to obtain better conditions from the USS.
The results of these negotiations were presented at the November 8 meeting of the Board of Directors:
the SSPM can switch to associate status. In practical terms, this means that membership fees are reduced by around 50 %, but that the association's representative loses her right to vote at USS board meetings.
During the negotiations, the Central Committee focused not only on the price, but also and above all on the concrete benefits that the SSPM could derive from maintaining its affiliation to the USS. Together with the USS, it drew up a work program for the coming years: of course, union work must be carried out first and foremost by the SSPM, and in particular by the Central Committee itself. It must identify the most urgent problems, analyze them and gather the necessary information. However, the USS must support it by advising it on the most promising course of action in each case. It must inform him of the ideal moment to intervene on a given issue, and point him in the right direction. It should also provide direct contacts with the politicians who make decisions in this area.
What are the points of this work program?
The main objective is to upgrade the profession of music teacher∙e. The central committee therefore feels that it is very important to obtain title protection for this profession. Given that many /numerous music school teachers∙e∙s will be retiring in the next few years, it is essential that the profession is regulated and that these positions are not taken over by poorly trained∙e∙s or teachers only trained∙e∙e∙s artistically, but not pedagogically. This would prevent a decline in the quality of teaching in music schools. But it's also a measure against falling salaries. Less well-trained teachers∙e∙s earn less, and the cantons, communes and associations responsible could get used to this.
With this in mind, it's also important that there should be more training places at Master of Arts level in music pedagogy for instruments for which a shortage of qualified teacher∙e∙s is threatening or already effective. At the same time, new, relevant training courses must be created for musicians with a purely artistic background, enabling them to acquire a comprehensive additional qualification to engage in music pedagogy without having to study their main instrument, in which they have already been qualified for a long time, again as part of a normal master's degree in pedagogy. The CHEMS and ASEM are already looking for concrete solutions to this problem, but the support of the SSPM and the political backing of the USS can certainly do no harm.
For the SSPM and all the other associations representing cultural players who teach music, dance, theater or the fine arts, it is important, for two reasons, that they be recognized throughout Switzerland as "organizations of cultural players∙le∙s professionals∙le∙s". On the one hand, this would enable them to have their say in the future, for example when negotiating a new cultural message, and on the other to be taken into account when awarding KUOR grants. It's the second point in particular that explains why we always receive the response "You're in the field of education, not culture". This is where we need the USS to put us in touch with politicians.
These are the three big, difficult and time-consuming tasks.
In addition, the program includes less important but equally essential tasks, such as ensuring that private music schools of all types pay their social security contributions and that there are no bogus self-employed∙e∙s. The second is to tackle the problem of chain-employment contracts, i.e. that higher education institutions do not hire teachers∙e∙s on a fixed basis who have been giving the same courses for years at less than 10 %. In addition, the threshold for entry into the Music and Training pension fund for self-em∙e∙s must be lowered. And music teaching must become a priority sector in order to combat wage dumping in outlying regions where many cross-border commuters live.
Let's not forget the important issue of the insidious reduction of working hours in music schools, which we can only effectively address with the next revision of the unemployment insurance law.
"It would really be paradise for music professors∙e∙s in Switzerland!" said Wolfgang Pailer, who opposed keeping the SSPM within the USS, as he doubts that the SSPM really enjoys the support of the USS.
The Central Committee undertakes to work energetically on the above-mentioned tasks and to ask the USS to provide it with the negotiated support.
And you, dear graduate∙e∙s of music∙e∙s in Switzerland who are unfortunately not yet members of the association, he invites you to join the SSPM, because each new membership strengthens the weight of the initiatives that the SSPM leads in favor of salaried∙e∙e∙s and independent∙e∙s music teachers in Switzerland, so that one day, "heavenly conditions" will truly reign.
