MONTREAL -- School crossing guards from Quebec will demonstrate Monday as students return to classes, denouncing the reduction in their working hours which, according to them, puts schoolchildren at greater risk.

The union accuses the municipal administration of not having consulted the principals and school boards before cutting 25,000 hours of service in recent months.

Yannick Labrecque, a union advisor at the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), said Quebec Mayor Regis Labeaume modelled the crossing guard's hours on bell times without taking into account students who are late or early.

"Obviously, there are always children who are a little late," he said during a telephone conversation with The Canadian Press. According to him, the school crossing guards should be on duty at least five minutes after the bell.

Labrecque also deplored that the new schedules do not take into account the fact that some schools offer extracurricular activities and that school lessons are open longer than others in the morning and afternoon.

The union spokesperson estimated that the average day for school crossing guards dropped from approximately 15 hours to 11.25 hours.

According to numbers from the union based on 200 school crossing guards, on average, each day, around 50 children pass through during the period which is no longer covered by the new timetables.

The union, which represents the 250 school crossing guards, made a first public showing of solidarity on the sidelines to start the school year. It again intends to put pressure on the Labeaume administration on the eve of the start of negotiations for the renewal of the collective agreement.

Labeaume's office did not respond to The Canadian Press's interview request at the time of publication.

At the end of August, Labeaume said he was outraged by the attitude of union spokespersons, accusing them of lying "brazenly" and of using children to add weight to negotiations.

He explained that an exercise revealed that school crossing guards were working unnecessarily and that the changes did not put the safety of children at risk