Concordia student unions begin strike, prepare for demonstration on Wednesday

Student unions representing more than 20,000 students at Concordia University began strike action on Monday as they gear up for a mass demonstration against Quebec's tuition hikes in downtown Montreal on Wednesday.

Hannah Jackson is the external and mobilization coordinator for the Concordia Student Union (CSU) and said she was pleased to see such support from student unions throughout the school.

"We got more numbers than we actually ever expected," said Jackson.

Concordia's Engineering and Computer Science Association (ECA) voted to strike, which added more than 6,500 students to the overall total.

"That shot our numbers up further than we expected," said Jackson. "This is great news for us because it means more students are getting involved in the fight against the government's tuition hikes."

 

 

 

 

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On Monday, Jackson said about 100 students were preparing signs and organizing for a week's worth of picketing classes while other students attended student-led workshops instead of class.

She said students are calling for an end to François Legault's tuition increases for out-of-province and international students.

Jackson was excited to see the movement gaining momentum, as unions representing around 15,000 students voted in favour of strikes at the end of January.

Concordia University spokesperson Vannnina Maestracci explained that even if a student group voted to strike, it does not mean all students in that group will take part in the strike.

"Classes are not cancelled and the university is open," she said. "While we respect the freedom of students to express their views and to peacefully protest, students who want to attend class should be able to do so."

Jackson said many students are worried that a decrease in enrollment will affect what happens to programs regardless of whether the students are from Quebec, out-of-province or international.

"The drop in enrollment thatwe're already seeing will mean cuts to my programming," said Jackson, who is in a small program with many out-of-province and international students. "Cuts to small specialty programs can mean the death of an entire field of student. The stakes are very high."

Some French universities students' associations (such as UQAM's AFESPED, ADEESE and AFEA) issued statements against the tuition hikes in October, and Concordia's associations are hoping there will be a solidarity of support between English and French students.

• UdeM also concerned about tuition hikes

 

 

 

 

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"We'll see basically if Legault is paying attention, if he is understanding that we are gaining momentum and we're also gaining support from the francophone universities because this has been framed not as an austerity and anti-student initiative," said Jackson.

"It's been framed as a English versus French initiative and we really want to challenge that."