“Education is not for sale. Yes to the general strike.” Photo March 22, 2012 by David Widgington

by David Widgington

Media Studies Graduate Student, Concordia University

The most obvious reason for rejecting the offer is that there is nothing in the so-called “agreement” that addresses the tuition fees nor offers any proposal for reducing the 82% tuition increase over seven years. The “agreement” that students are voting on this week, proposes to end the crisis with the establishment of a Provisional University Council (PUC), whose mandate would be to…

Continue Reading:

http://mediaswap.wordpress.com/2012/05/07/why-vote-against-the-quebec-government-offer-and-continue-to-strike/

Over 12, 000 students are on strike at Concordia. Students have been organizing picketing, disruptive actions and occupations on a daily basis to participate in the province wide strike against an unjustified tuition hike. Student strikes, as a means of pressure, put the weight of a semester loss on the shoulders of the government which is dependent on the production of future workers to sustain the already suffocating system. It is a serious contradiction that the Concordia administration has refused to withhold classes and exams for duration of the strike, thus misdirecting the pressure on the students rather than the government.

Thousands of students on campus have missed more than a third of their scheduled lectures and are currently in the seventh week of the strike. As the administration insists on the maintenance of a normal exam schedule, students and faculty that are affected by the strike continue to be left to their own devices. In an attempt to break the strike movement, the administration is refusing to provide any meaningful marge de manoeuvre to professors tasked with evaluating students who have not engaged in anything close to a semester of learning. Strikers are being penalized academically and financially for their political involvement.

The April 10 “Town Hall” meeting held by the University administration and President Lowy in response to an occupation of the administration office produced nothing of substance. Waiving of incomplete fees, and minor extensions to discontinue and grade submission deadlines, without refunding paid fees, and claiming this to be a comprehensive solution is an insult to strikers considering that the standard practice employed by other Quebec universities and CEGEPs is interruption of “business as usual” for the duration of the strike. We are sick and tired of this situation and ask for solidarity to build strength in numbers.

At this point, only a spontaneous response by the entire Concordia University community can produce significant results that no other negotiation, press release, media conference, dialogue with a handful of association representatives, Senate meeting, Board of Governors meeting, or Town Hall can ever rival. The success of this event will highly depend on everyone’s participation to make sure that the strike is effectively implemented.

In an effort to expand the debate to a campus wide level and to open up democratic spaces for discussion, we propose a General Assembly open to the entire Concordia community on Thursday April 26, 1:00 PM to decide on an immediate action plan in response to the intransigent attitude of the administration. The success of the action plan will be largely dependent on a high turnout of the Concordia community at large, students, faculty and staff. Everyone can participate in debates and discussion, and formulate demands and propositions that will be binding to the assembly. Priority speaking turns will be set to ensure that everyone is given a fair chance to speak and be heard.

The proposed agenda is:

0.0 Procedures
0.1 Praesidium
1.0 Action plan for immediate recognition of the strike by Concordia’s administration
2.0 Next assembly

Let’s give administration no other choice but to listen to our demands!

Press Release: For Immediate Release

Concordia students shame administration for sacrificing academic integrity and denying student strike

MONTREAL, April 11, 2012 — After weeks of being stonewalled by Concordia administration, students are publicly denouncing the University’s lack of academic integrity and its denial of Quebec’s tradition of student strikes.

Today, with support from CLASSE spokespeople, students on strike at Concordia are outlining their demands.

Concordia University has provided no suitable solution for making up lost classes, despite the success of various strategies employed by other Quebec universities in response to the current strike. An April 4 statement released by Dean of Arts and Sciences Brian Lewis restates the administration’s position of denial and proposes inconsiderate and inadequate measures to address lost class time and to salvage Concordia’s academic integrity.

The Graduate Student Association’s Strike Committee, along with various undergraduate student associations involved in the strike, condemn the administration’s irresponsible position. They demand that Concordia University administration recognize the collective decision of students with a strike mandate, and that it propose immediate solutions allowing students and faculty to make up for lost time once the strike is over.

“By refusing to recognize the strike and the importance of class time, Concordia’s administration is dismissing this province’s historical, cultural and academic strike traditions,” says Tom McGurk, president of the Geography Graduate Students’ Association. “Striking students at Concordia are being threatened with failing grades for their political beliefs, hired private security has been intimidating strikers, and students may see the semester end despite missing more than a third of their class time.”

“Just because it is an anglophone institution, the University cannot claim to exist in a bubble isolated from the culture and history surrounding it,” says Gabrielle Bouchard, an undergraduate student at Concordia’s Simone de Beauvoir Institute. “Anglophone students are trying to join the dominantly francophone student movement. We don’t think it’s fair to just ride off the work of Francophone students’ struggles for accessible education in this province.”

Since the beginning of the student protest, the university has had its head in the sand, denying the strike mandates — dating as early as March 5 — adopted by numerous departments, many of which are members of the CLASSE (Coalition large de l’association pour une solidarité syndicale étudiante).

“CLASSE is proud to count the departmental student associations at Concordia as members,” says Jeanne Reynolds, spokesperson for the province-wide student coalition for the strike.

Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois, another spokesperson, adds, “CLASSE gives its full support to students on strike at Concordia, and we stand behind their approach and their actions.”

Concordia students and CLASSE spokespeople will be available to the media on Wednesday, April 11, at 10:30AM on the 7th floor of the Hall Building, 1455 de Maisonneuve West.

For the full text of the students’ demands:
http://concordiastudents.ca/studentsdemands/

More information:
Nadia Hausfather
nhausfather@gmail.com
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Avis aux médias – Mise en péril d’une éducation de qualité à Concordia

Montréal, le 10 avril 2012 – Les étudiant-e-s en grève dénonceront publiquement le manque d’intégrité académique de l’université Concordia et son déni de la tradition culturelle et historique des grèves étudiantes au Québec.

Ce mercredi, les étudiant-e-s en grève de Concordia, avec le support des porte-paroles de la CLASSE, présenteront un aperçu de leurs demandes.

Quoi:      Conférence de presse
Qui:        Gabrielle Bouchard, étudiante de premier cycle de l’Institut Simone de Beauvoir;
Tom McGurk, Président de l’Association des étudiant-e-s en cycles supérieurs en Géographie;
Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois et Jeanne Reynolds, les porte-paroles de la CLASSE
Quand:  le 11 avril 2012 à 10h30
Où:         7e étage de l’édifice Hall
1455 De Maisonneuve Ouest

Renseignements:
Nadia Hausfather
438-875-3563
nhausfather@gmail.com

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Concordia Sacrifices Quality of Teaching, Dismisses Provincial Strike Culture

No course extensions despite significantly reduced class time and historical and cultural tradition of student strikes

7 April 2012 — On Thursday 4 April Concordia’s Dean of Arts and Science Brian Lewis sent a message to department chairs outlining this Faculty’s response to student strikes at Concordia. In a word, that response is: Denial. Denial that students in some departments collectively decided not to attend up to 38.5% of their semester, denial of the standard practices of other Quebec universities, and denial that classes are an integral part of learning. The solutions presented to professors are unacceptable, limited to changing course requirements thus omitting class material, awarding Incomplete or In Progress marks, and submitting marks at a slightly later date.

The Strike Committee of the Graduate Students’ Association (GSA) of Concordia, the Geography Undergraduate Student Society, the Urban Planning Association and the School of Community and Public Affairs Student Association demand that the Concordia administration recognize students’ collective decision to strike and make accommodations to make up for reduced class time for the affected departments once the strike is over, which would entail:

• developing a clear plan in consultation with student delegates from affected departments to reschedule classes and postpone final examinations, assignments and deadlines for the submission of grades accordingly;
• if the strike persists due to the government’s intransigence, the extension of the Winter semester beyond April and the corresponding delay of the Summer semester, alongside the respective extension of Teaching Assistant and Part-time Faculty contracts, as well as maintaining university services such as regular library hours, health services, career and placement services, and residence accommodations at a normal level for this extended Winter semester;
• a commitment to exercising flexibility, so that these changes do not negatively affect students who are unable to return to classes or write exams at a later date.

Many students have missed significant amounts of class time due to the strike. By refusing to arrange to reschedule class time or extend deadlines once the strikes end at Concordia, the Dean and the senior administrators are devaluing the quality of education at this university. Real learning cannot happen in isolation, without significant engagement and guidance from an instructor. To expect work to be handed in without this instruction is to say that these elements of education are dispensable, which is a disparagement to the profession of teaching.

In addition to the tuition hikes, the student movement in Quebec stands in opposition to the privatization of universities and the increasingly shallow, standardized and impersonal approach to university teaching. Therefore, we cannot condone a situation in which the semester will be declared complete when some students have not engaged in anything close to a semester of learning. This includes cases in which classes were held in spite of strike mandates, despite the fact that less than 10% of the students were attending.

Our expectation is reasonable; it simply reflects the standard practice at other Quebec universities. In 2005, the Université de Québec à Montréal (UQAM) extended the Winter semester until 8 May, recommending measures such as longer classes or classes scheduled more frequently, “Afin d’assurer la qualité de la formation dispensée à l’UQAM.” This year UQAM will see a term extension until 3 June, the date being flexible depending on the end date of the strike. The Université de Montréal has announced that the 2012 Winter semester will be extended until 15 June for those departments affected by the strike.

It is important to note that the decision by the UQAM was taken by the Commission des études, a committee of students, professors and administrators. Decisions vital to the integrity of teaching and learning at Concordia should be taken in consultation with the academic community, and not handed down from above.

This strike has been a measure of last resort to protect the quality of education and its accessibility for future generations. Students do not enjoy missing classes; they do so because they believe education should be accessible and because the strike is the only remaining option to prevent the tuition fee hike. Post-secondary institutions have historically extended the semester to accommodate student strikes. Concordia is choosing to ignore this cultural tradition. If the university had implemented precedent from elsewhere in Quebec rather than a short-sighted “business as usual” policy, and officially cancelled classes in affected departments following the democratic decision of students’ general assemblies, faculty would now be in a situation of doing delayed work, yet not additional work. Thus the administration is responsible for causing faculty and students additional inconvenience and stress.

The legitimacy of Concordia University’s academic integrity is in the public eye and will depend on the senior administration’s response. It is with everyone’s best interests in mind that we expect President Lowy to respond to the above demands at Tuesday’s Town Hall. If not, it will be difficult to predict how students and the public will thereafter react to the university’s continued disrespect for this province’s historical and cultural tradition of student strikes, for academic integrity, and for the well-being of its students.

Graduate Students’ Association Strike Committee
Geography Undergraduate Student Society
Urban Planning Association
School of Community and Public Affairs Student Association
The GSA Strike Committee, formed through a resolution of the General Assembly of the GSA, coordinates the implementation of the strike between graduates in different departments.

Contact: gsastrikecom@gmail.com

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—- English above —–

Concordia sacrifie la qualité de l’éducation et ignore la tradition culturelle et historique des grèves étudiantes au Québec

Aucune prolongation de la session n’est prévue, malgré le temps de classe perdu et la tradition culturellement et historiquement forte des mouvements grévistes chez les étudiants québécois.

7 avril 2012 – Le jeudi 4 avril dernier, le doyen de la Faculté des arts et des sciences, Brian Lewis, a envoyé un message aux chefs de départements, établissant la position de la Faculté à l’égard de la grève à Concordia.

Cette position en est un flagrant déni.

Déni du mandat de grève de certains départements qui ont perdu à ce jour l’équivalent de 38,5% de leur temps d’enseignement ; déni des alternatives mises en place dans d’autres établissements d’éducation postsecondaire au Québec pour tenir compte de la grève ; et déni des heures passées en salle de classe comme partie intégrante du processus d’apprentissage.

Les alternatives présentées aux professeurs sont inacceptables : elles se limitent à modifier le plan de cours sans reprendre la matière prévue, à accorder des mentions « incomplet » ou « en cours », et à soumettre les notes à une date légèrement ultérieure à celle qui était déjà prévue.

Le comité de grève de l’Association des étudiants des cycles supérieurs de l’Université Concordia, et les associations départementales des étudiants de premier cycle qui sont en grève, demandent à l’administration de l’Université Concordia de reconnaitre la décision collective des étudiants et étudiantes qui ont un mandat de grève et de proposer dès maintenant des solutions permettant de reprendre le temps de cours perdu une fois la grève terminée. Ceci implique :

• de mettre sur pied un plan d’action détaillé, en consultation avec des délégués de chaque département concerné, afin d’établir un calendrier pour la reprise des cours et des examens, la remise des travaux et la soumission des notes.
• de prolonger la session d’hiver au-delà du mois d’avril, de repousser conséquemment la session d’été, et de prolonger les contrats des auxiliaires d’enseignement et des professeurs à temps partiel, ainsi que de maintenir à leur niveau habituel de fonctionnement les services universitaires, tels que les horaires d’ouverture des bibliothèques, les services de soins de santé, d’orientation professionnelle et les résidences.
• de s’engager à être flexible dans la forme que prendra la reprise des cours.

Dans le cadre de la grève, un grand nombre d’étudiants ont manqué une quantité significative d’heures de classe. Par leur refus de considérer la possibilité d’instaurer une reprise des cours suivant la fin de la grève à Concordia, le doyen et les cadres supérieurs démontrent le peu d’importance qu’ils accordent à la qualité de l’éducation à Concordia.

L’apprentissage n’est pas un acte isolé, c’est un processus qui requiert un engagement et un accompagnement soutenus de la part du professeur. Proposer une remise des travaux sans cet enseignement, revient à dire que le temps passé en classe est superflu, ce qui constitue un affront à la profession d’enseignant.

Conséquemment, nous ne pouvons pas accepter que l’administration termine la session alors que la formation reçue par de nombreux étudiants et étudiantes est loin d’être complète. Notons que certains cours ont été donnés malgré des mandats de grève et malgré le fait que moins de 10% des étudiants étaient présents.

Nos demandes sont raisonnables ; elles reflètent simplement les pratiques courantes adoptées par d’autres universités québécoises. En 2005, l’Université du Québec à Montréal (UQAM) a prolongé la session d’hiver jusqu’au 8 mai, en instaurant des mesures telles qu’une augmentation de la durée ou de la fréquence des cours, « afin d’assurer la qualité de la formation dispensée à l’UQAM ». Cette année, l’UQAM verra sa session d’hiver prolongée jusqu’au 3 juin, date provisoire qui dépendra de la date de fin de la grève. L’Université de Montréal a annoncé que la session d’hiver 2012 sera prolongée jusqu’au 15 juin pour les départements en grève.

Il est important de noter que la décision de l’UQAM a été prise par la Commission des études, un comité formé d’étudiants, de professeurs et de cadres. Des décisions qui ont un impact aussi crucial sur l’enseignement et l’apprentissage à Concordia devraient être prises en consultation avec la communauté académique et non imposées par les instances administratives.

Rappelons que cette grève est une mesure de dernier recours pour protéger la qualité de l’éducation et son accessibilité pour les générations futures. Manquer des cours n’est pas agréable ; les étudiants et étudiantes le font parce qu’ils et elles croient que l’éducation doit être accessible, et parce que la grève est le seul levier pour contrer la hausse des frais de scolarité.

Historiquement, les institutions d’enseignement postsecondaire ont prolongé les sessions en réponse aux grèves étudiantes. L’Université Concordia a choisi d’ignorer cette tradition culturelle. Si, plutôt que de faire l’autruche, l’Université s’était dès le départ inspirée des précédents établis par d’autres institutions québécoises pour annuler officiellement les cours, dans le respect des mandats de grève votés démocratiquement dans les assemblées générales départementales, les professeurs feraient actuellement face à une charge de travail reportée, mais non additionnelle.

L’administration est donc responsable des inconvénients et du stress supplémentaire imposés au corps professoral et aux étudiants.

Tous les regards se tournent à présent vers les administrateurs de l’Université, en espérant qu’ils sauront défendre l’intégrité académique de Concordia. Nous nous attendons à ce que le Recteur Lowy, lors de son allocution prévue ce mardi, réponde aux présentes demandes dans le meilleur intérêt de tous. Faute de quoi, il est difficile de prévoir quelle sera la réaction des étudiants et du public face à ce manque de respect flagrant et répété envers la culture de grève étudiante québécoise, envers l’intégrité académique de l’Université et envers le bien-être de ses étudiants.

Graduate Students’ Association Strike Committee
Geography Undergraduate Student Society
Urban Planning Association
School of Community and Public Affairs Student Association

Le comité de grève de l’Association des étudiants de cycles supérieurs de l’Université Concordia, issu d’une résolution votée en assemblée générale, a pour mandat de coordonner les actions de grève des étudiants de divers départements de deuxième et troisième cycles.

Contact: gsastrikecom@gmail.com

Dear Provost Graham:

We wish to bring to your attention our concerns about the notice of Friday, 23 March, regarding the “Obstruction of campus facilities and classrooms.” In our view, the shift of policy represented in this document is an unwarranted act of escalation on the administration’s part, and one that has already begun to foster avoidable confrontations between security staff and students. In addition, the new policy violates the spirit of the Code of Conduct, whose primary purpose (Code of Rights and Responsibilities, §V, 26) is to “promote and protect the values of civility, equity, respect, non-discrimination, and an appreciation of diversity as manifested within the University.” Finally, in asking faculty to adopt and implement the administration’s hostile stance towards protesting students, this policy jeopardizes in the name of expediency the relationship between faculty members and students that is at the core of Concordia’s educational mission.

Recent incidents demonstrate that the change of policy signaled in the 23 March notice has needlessly and counterproductively inflamed a hitherto civil and stable situation. While many students have followed the course of protest, including pickets, for which they have have voted democratically through their various associations, many faculty have managed to accommodate protesting and non-protesting students. Yet the administration has now resorted to threats of prosecution, and in at least one case – as reported in the Montreal Gazette and other news media – to physical force. This policy has turned an inevitably tense but workable environment into one of open hostility. It is particularly frustrating that the administration has offered no clear rationale for its change of tack, and no plan for dealing with the possible outcomes.

Besides showing a lack of respect for the democratic process through which student associations have taken up their positions, the new policy is at odds with both the spirit and the letter of the university’s own Code of Conduct. In particular, the instruction that faculty contact the Security Department directly if “access to classes or facilities… is impeded” or classes themselves “disrupted” dramatically lowers the standard for involving security officers in interactions with students, tending (as we have already seen) to escalate rather than defuse conflicts. In comparison, the Code of Conduct only stipulates that faculty members contact Security when “faced with an urgent situation involving threatening or violent conduct” (Code of Rights and Responsibilities, §IX, 116). “Threatening or violent conduct” is defined in the same document (§V, 28(f)) as conduct that “endangers or threatens the health, safety or well-being” of members of the community. We do not believe that student boycotts, protest or picketing meet that definition.

Most troubling to us as faculty members is the corrosive effect the new policy will have on our relationships with our students. In being tasked by the administration with enforcing a security policy alien both to the Code of Conduct and to the administration’s original stance on the protests (as laid out on page 3 of the document of 12 March, “Frequently Asked Questions Regarding Student Protests”), the faculty are put in an untenable position: having to maintain pedagogical relationships with students that are built, over the long term, upon trust, while at the same time helping to curtail these students’ political expression for the administration’s short-term convenience. Again, this is a tactic destined to produce rather than eliminate conflict, and in a pedagogical context the damage it introduces cannot easily be undone. Further, inasmuch as the duties of faculty members (as set out in the current Collective Agreement, art.16.01 (a-c)) are limited to research, teaching, and service, enforcing the administration’s stance on the protests – as opposed to following the Code of Conduct – is not something we can be compelled to do.

In view of the already harmful and potentially disastrous effects of the new policy on campus life, on the freedom of students to express their views in an open and democratic manner, and on the capacity of the faculty to maintain the effective pedagogical relationships that should be the university’s central concern, we ask that the policy outlined in the 23 March notice be suspended.

Signed,

Sima Aprahamian, Ph.D. , Full-time, Arts & Science
Charles Reiss , Full-time, FAS
Norma Rantisi , Full-time, Geography, Planning & Environment
Jennifer Spiegel , Part-time, Theatre
Daniel Dagenais , Full-time, Arts and Science
Jim Freeman , Part-time, Geography, Planning and Environment
Jason Princ , Part-time, School of Community and Public Affairs
Isabelle Charron , Part-time, Geography, Planning, and the Environment
Elena Razlogova , Full-time, Arts & Science
Krista Lynes , Full-time, Communication Studies
Amy Twigge-Molecey , Part-time, Geography, Planning and the Environment
Kevin Austin , Full-time, Fine Arts
eleanor bond , Full-time, Fine Arts
Rosanna Maule , Full-time, MHSOC
Andrew Ivaska , Full-time, FAS, History
Geneviève Rail , Full-time, FAS
Nadia Hardy , Full-time, Arts and Science
Manish Sharma , Full-time, Arts & Science
Luc otter , Full-time, cinema
Pascale Biron , Full-time, Arts & Science
pk langshaw , Full-time, fine arts
Luis Ochoa , Full-time, Arts and Science
Sébastien Caquard , Full-time, Geography, Planning & Environment
Judith Herz , Full-time, Arts and Science
Christine York , Full-time, Études françaises
Alison Loader , Part-time, Fine Arts
Jean Théberge , Part-time, Fine Arts
Ivana Djordjevic , Full-time, Arts & Science
Gavin Taylor , Full-time, Arts & Science
Pierre Gauthier , Full-time, Geography, Planning & Environment
Elsa Beaulieu , Part-time, Arts and Science
Sheila Mason , Full-time, Arts and Science
David Morris , Full-time, FAS, Philosophy
Annie Lalancette , Part-time, Arts and Science
Ariela Freedman , Full-time, Liberal Arts College
Peter Grogono , Full-time, ENCS
Ted McCormick , Full-time, FAS, History
Matt Soar , Full-time, Arts and Science
Sandra Eber , Part-time, Cinema
Pierre-Mathieu Le Bel , Part-time, Arts and sciences
Leila Sujir , Full-time, Studio Arts, Faculty of Fine Arts
Mark Corwin , Full-time, Fine Arts
Erin Manning , Full-time, Fine Arts
Norman Nawrocki , Part-time, School of Community and Public Affairs
Kim Sawchuk , Full-time, Arts and Sciences
Theresa Ventura , Full-time, FAS
Jessica MacCormack , Full-time, Studio Arts
Erwin Regler , Part-time, Fine Arts
Steve Bates , Part-time, Fine Arts
Trevor Gould , Full-time, Fine Arts
James Whitman , Part-time, Fine Arts, Visual Arts
Jenny Lin , Part-time, Fine Arts
Maria Peluso , Part-time, Arts and Science
Peter Flemming , Part-time, Fine Arts
Eric  Shragge , Full-time, SCPA
Max Bergholz , Full-time, FAS, History
Evergon , Full-time, Studio Arts
Tim Clark , Full-time, Fine Arts
Catherine Russell , Full-time, FIne Arts
Dayna McLeod , Part-time, Communication Studies
Walcir Cardoso , Full-time, Arts & Science
Vasek Chvatal , Full-time, ENCS
Owen Chapman , Full-time, Arts and Science
Ingrid Bachmann , Full-time, Fine Arts
Tagny Duff , Full-time, Arts and Science
Greg Nielsen , Full-time, Arts and Science
Mary Esteve , Full-time, FAS English
k.g. Guttman , Full-time, Contemporary Dance
Thomas Waugh , Full-time, Fine Arts
David Douglas, Ph.D. , Part-time, Fine Arts
Therese Mastroiacovo, Full-time, Fine Arts
Dr Sam Noumoff, Full-time, Arts
Mary Anne Poutanen, Part-time, Arts and Science

If you are a part-time or full-time faculty, and would like to sign the letter, please visit http://themarch23notice.wordpress.com/

Also visit the above website for an up to date list of signatories.

Whereas the number of strikers against the tuition hike has surpassed 290 000 across the province (if we include the strike on March 22nd 2012), it is important to note that the management of certain universities, like McGill, Concordia and Université de Montréal, are sending notices to their students in which they allege that the concept of strike is limited to workers under the Labour Code (R.S.Q., chapter C-27). Consequently, they qualify the movement as being a simple boycott and allege that professors should give the classes despite the strike votes taken by the student associations and threaten students with academic reprisals in case of absence or omission to give in papers.

Beyond constituting a political intimidation tactic that comes from parties that are far from being neutral in this debate (it is important de remember that the Conférence des recteurs et des principaux des universités du Québec is a staunch supporter of the hikes), this directive is based on important historical errors and is contrary to the spirit, if not the letter of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms (The Constitution Act, 1982, Schedule B to the Canada Act 1982 (UK), 1982, c 11) as well as Charter of human rights and freedoms,(RSQ, c C-12).

Firstly, it is important to note that the right to strike was not created by the Labour Code. It existed long before the enactment of this law as it originates from the working-class struggles of the 19th century.  An international phenomenon of contestation, the right to strike was elevated to the rank of fundamental rights on an international scale through its recognition in the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, dating from 1966, which was ratified by Canada.

Moreover, this pressure tactic, which sits at the crossroads between the right to freedom of association and freedom of expression, was used in numerous instances in modern democracies to achieve goals that went beyond labour conflicts. Accordingly, authors Guy Groulx and Jean-Marie Pernot confirm that: “ During the whole of 19th and 20th centuries, the strike is imbedded within a profound need for democracy, for social democracy”[1]. They underline that the issues raised by strikes often go beyond “purely professional” motives and bring up as examples the anti-fascist strike of February 12th 1934, the massive insurrectional strikes for the Liberation, the 1958 strikes for republican liberties, the 1961 strikes against the Alger coup d’état, etc. The authors conclude that: “ In these contexts, the strike is no longer just a product of modern democracy; it is also a guarantor of political democracy – which explains why it was long banned in most dictatorships (…)”[2].

As for the more specific concept of the student strike, it can be traced as far back as 1443, at the Université de Paris.  At that time, students went on strike to oppose the application of the crown’s criminal law to members of the university community. More recently, in the 20th century, many examples of student strikes emerged in various countries.  In Haiti, students were the first group to rise against the dictatorship of François « Papa Doc » Duvalier.  They first protested against martial law as well as an antidemocratic electoral law that were both imposed in 1949.  They also protested against the fraudulent elections of 1950.  Having been subjected to violent repression by the state, they went on strike in 1960 in order to obtain the liberation of their comrades who had been arrested by the Duvalier Gestapo.

Elsewhere in the world, we cannot forget the events that transpired in May 1968 in France and that began with a student revolt. Also in France, more recently, there was the struggle against the now infamous “contrat de première embauche” (the contract for the first-time worker), which also began by student strikes in universities and which succeeded in getting the government to rescind the project.  More recently, there was a student strike in Chile to denounce the privatization of the education system under Pinochet’s dictatorship.

In Quebec, the strike appeared in the 20th century as the main tactic in support of the student movement’s demands.  The first recorded strike was a one-day stoppage that happened in 1958 in order to abolish student fees and give accessibility to higher education.  This strike, which united 21 000 students, was followed by the famous three-month sit-in in Duplessis’ office by three students from University de Montréal.  The general strike in the fall of 1968 that followed aimed to achieve the democratization of teaching methods and institutions, the creation of a second French-language institution in Montreal as well as greater access to education (through a tuition freeze and loans and bursaries). This strike ended successfully with regards to most of the demands and led to the creation of UQÀM.  Another strike concerning the payment of student fees lasted five weeks in 1973.  In 1974, yet another strike was called to denounce the so-called aptitude tests for university studies, which were abolished a month after.  The strike continued despite this, taking on the loans and bursaries scheme.  The scheme was enhanced as a result. Other strikes happened in 1980, 1983 (in conjunction with the common front and also for the enactment of a law concerning the recognition of student unions, which was done), 1986, 1988, 1990, 1996 and finally in 2005.  Let us not forget that this last strike, having united 230 000 students at its peak, ended with the government agreeing to not only bargain with at least a part of the student federations but also to reimburse the 103 million dollars that it wished to convert into loans.  

As such, student struggles and more specifically student strikes are not a recent creation.  And contrary to what is alleged by the management staff of certain institutions, these strikes are not a “boycott” but real strikes in the working-class sense of the term.  Indeed, this false conception is derived from an erroneous view of the student, who is seen as a “client” obtaining a service from a company, which in this case, would be the university (or CEGEP).  However, the student is not a client, he/she is a worker, albeit an intellectual one, who contributes, through his/her learning and academic participation, to the collective knowledge of society. Moreover, we can distinguish a strike from a simple boycott through its goals and its scope.  In this case, we do not aim to “boycott” one or more educational institutions.  We suspend our participation and intellectual contribution in order to obtain concessions on the part of the government which is in charge of managing, at least in part, the conditions of our education.  In that sense, the movement is much more similar to a workers’ strike.  The situation could be different and more in line with a boycott if say, for example, after the strike, students decided to stop applying to McGill and offer their intellectual effort elsewhere because of its stance during the strike.

We should note that these institutions have been quite reticent in applying these directives until this day, no doubt due in part to the resistance from professors and adjunct professors that refuse to become instruments of this repression.  Moreover, many other institutions recognize the legitimacy of the movement from the onset and cancel their classes outright and/or bargain strike protocols with the student unions (ex: UQÀM, UQTR and the Faculté des lettres et sciences humaines from Université Sherbrooke).   

Another element to consider is An Act respecting the accreditation and financing of students’ associations (RSQ, c A-3.01), enacted following the student strike of 1983, which was clearly modelled after the Labour Code in many respects. Indeed, section 4 of this law, which guarantees the right of every student to belong to the students’ association of his choice and to take part in setting up the association, to participate in its activities and administration, is a very close copy of section 3 of the Labour Code which recognizes the same right for workers.  Moreover, the accreditation of a student association makes it the sole representative for the students, much like the accredited union under the Labour Code.  Finally, even though this law does not provide for a strike, it does not prohibit it either.

Consequently, we are of the view that student strikes are an essential part of the right to freedom of association in the student realm.  As such, we are of the view that the unjustified repression of the right to strike would be in violation of our Charters.  

We are also of the view that imposing academic reprisals against students by reason of their participation in a strike could constitute discrimination based on their political opinions.  In a society where we accommodate (and rightfully so in our opinion) religious views by allowing, for example, for holidays and breaks for these reasons, it would be completely unreasonable and unfair to penalize students for voicing their political opinions, especially when they are expressed in the midst of such a mass movement.  And this is even more surprising considering this repression would emanate from universities, which are supposed to be at the forefront of democratic and legal developments.   

Finally, as jurists, we wish to remind all that despite appearances, a right is not created through legislation but won through political and social struggle.  And to keep it, we have to use it.   As such so, we would like to say to the students:  Long live the right to strike.  And through it, long live democracy.  

Association des juristes progressistes 

L’Association des juristes progressistes, founded in 2010, is an organization of lawyers, law students and workers from the legal system, dedicated to defending rights and putting the judicial to task in order to assist the struggle for social justice and end inequality.  

www.ajpquebec.org

info@ajpquebec.org

[1] La Grève, Groulx et Pernot, 2008, « La Grève » Presses de la Fondation nationale des sciences politiques, Paris, p. 10.

[2] Idem.

By Philippe Dumesnil

On March 22nd, about 300,000 students and workers took to the streets for a huge demonstration to defend the accessibility of education.  This goes on to prove we are not alone in this collective struggle!  Despite this historical effort, the government is still not listening.

Because we have been putting continuous effort for so long now, it is necessary to keep fighting until we win.  Giving up now, at the beginning of the fight, would mean making way for increasingly expensive education while the government reduces taxes of the richest.  As though there weren’t enough injustices in our system already!

The government is simply expecting our movement to falter; the more we are divided, the easier it will be for the government to effectively implement anti social measures.   The only way to prove him wrong is by  renewing our strike mandates.  The CLASSE (Coalition Large for the Association pour une Solidarité Syndiale Étudiante) is calling for a week of action between March 26th and March 30th.  With each passing day of economic perturbation, the pressure is constantly increasing upon the government.  With power in numbers and strong determination, the sooner or the later, the government will have no other choice but to listen to our demands.

This is an invitation to get together to plan the mobilization.   It is true that there is a division within Concordia, just like everywhere, on the issue of the tuition increase.  An efficient information campaign needs to continue being carried out to increase solidarity towards the condition of students.  This is the purpose of Concordia’s Mob Squad. 

The group holds regular meetings each Friday 15h at GSA (2030 Mackay).