Concordia Joins Unlimited General Strike, Now 100,000 Strong

Six Concordia student associations, representing 6,380 students, voted Wednesday and Thursday for an unlimited general strike, marking the entry of anglophone campuses into the Quebec-wide movement. Nearly 116,000 students across the province now have strike mandates, with 25,500 of those awaiting an initiation date. According to the CLASSE, around 60,000 more have strike votes planned.

The Women’s Studies Student Association spearheaded the events at Concordia, voting unanimously in favor of a strike at a General Assembly Wednesday afternoon. Geography, urban planning, philosophy, and political science students, as well as the 3,700-member Fine Arts Student Alliance, have since joined them. The CSU, representing all Concordia undergrads, votes March 7 on a renewable strike.

In the last unlimited general student strike, in 2005, no anglophone associations participated, but this year has seen unprecedented mobilization at Concordia, McGill, and anglophone Cégeps such as Dawson and Vanier. McGill’s Arts Undergraduate Society, numbering 7,515 students, will vote on Tuesday, March 13.

Francophone and anglophone organizers have sought to bridge the traditional divide between their campuses, collaborating on events like 2 February’s march, entitled “Don’t Fuck with Notre Éducation,” as well as Wednesday’s rally for free education at McGill, which drew dozens of striking students from UQAM and Cégep du Vieux-Montréal.