[rad-green] How Seven Thousand Quebec Workers Went on Strike against Climate Change

*https://labornotes.org/2019/10/how-seven-thousand-quebec-workers-went-strike-against-climate-change
<https://labornotes.org/2019/10/how-seven-thousand-quebec-workers-went-strike-against-climate-change>Labor
Notes          October 25, 2019*



*How Seven Thousand Quebec Workers Went on Strike against Climate ChangeBy
Alain Savard*

[image: Huge crowd gathered in the street in Montreal for climate strike.]

*Hundreds of thousands marched in Montreal against climate change on
September 27, including 7,500 workers on strike. Photo: Félix Sésé.*

With a crowd of 500,000, Montreal’s march for the climate was the largest
in the world during the September 20-27 week of climate action. Yet it was
also noteworthy for another reason.

Despite provincial labor laws preventing unions from striking over
political issues, 11 locals representing 7,500 workers formally voted to go
on strike for a day.

Organizing for the strike began in January with a handful of rank-and-file
teachers who were also involved in grassroots ecological movements.
François Geoffroy and Frédéric Legault had little experience with unions,
but when they saw that the international network Earth Strike was calling
for a climate strike on September 27, they decided to dedicate all their
energy to organizing a real climate *strike*.

They linked up with the rank-and-file union network Lutte Commune
<http://luttecommune.info/> (Common Struggle) to make connections with
union activists on how to push forward.

The strategy they came up with was to get local membership meetings to pass
a strike mandate. This mandate would be “conditional”: it would take effect
only if a critical mass—at least 10 locals representing 5,000 workers—were
participating. That way the locals would not strike alone and be vulnerable
to repression and marginalization. It also ensured that locals could
coordinate without having to use the formal structures of labor federations
for communication and strategizing.

Coordination outside the formal structures was important because the unions
that the organizers thought might strike belonged to various federations.
They didn’t expect a majority of unions to go on strike in any single
federation, and they expected the federations to be reluctant, if not
hostile to the project.
TEACHERS VOTE TO STRIKE

By June 2019 the first three locals had voted to strike, all of them
representing teachers at Quebec’s system of public two-year post-secondary,
pre-university colleges, known as CEGEPs. Word was spreading fast among
teachers that a climate strike was coming up, and many locals scheduled
strike votes for after the summer break.

By design, these strike votes put CEGEP administrators in an awkward
position. Administrators did not want to appear to be “against the
environment,” and therefore were not eager to repress the strike movement.

Under pressure, the administrations of many of the colleges decided to
cancel classes for September 27. Instead, they announced an “institutional
day” where questions of climate change would be discussed.

Many local union officials therefore called off the strike votes they had
scheduled for the start of the school year. Since classes were already
canceled, they reasoned, the objective of allowing their members to
participate in the rally was fulfilled.
A STRIKE, NOT A CLASS CANCELLATION

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But the half-dozen rank-and-file leaders who were spearheading the movement
replied with a small leaflet titled “eight reasons to vote the strike
anyway.” For one, not every CEGEP had suspended classes. Second, canceling
classes did not necessarily imply that teachers would be free to
participate in the rally.

Most important, teachers had begun the mobilization. It was *their* movement,
not a movement organized by administrators. They were not going to march
for the planet because their boss “let them” do so, but because *they* had
decided not to work.

The small group made calls, contacted fellow teachers in other
institutions, posted the leaflet on a Facebook group for CEGEP teachers,
and debated the proposition in every forum they had.

This convinced eight other locals to join the movement. Most of them
represented other CEGEP workers, but some representing office workers and
university teaching and research assistants also voted to strike. In total,
the 11 locals were members of three different labor federations.
CRITICAL MASS

Around September 20, the goal of 10 locals representing 5,000 workers was
reached. Quickly, the rank-and-file organizers called a meeting to gather
the locals. The idea was to exchange information: how are administrators
reacting? Are there threats against strikers? What is the legal status of
the strike if classes are canceled? Does anyone need help with their picket
lines?

After a good discussion, it became clear that people were not afraid of
fines for holding an “illegal strike.” The legitimacy of the cause and the
scale of the mobilization had cornered the bosses. Because administrators
had agreed to cancel classes in many places, it was not clear how they
could “prove” legally that teachers were not providing the normal workload
required of them.

So in a way, the workers got their strike vote “recognized.” They were on
political strike despite the labor laws.

On September 27, a large part of the province was shut down. Students in
universities, colleges, and high schools had voted to strike. A hundred
fifty businesses shut down and let their employees join the march.
Thousands of workers took the day off.

And amidst this turmoil, one group was striking in the proper sense.
Seventy-five hundred workers were proud to be on climate strike.

*Alain Savard is a PhD candidate in political science and union militant
involved in the ecological group La Planète s'invite au Parlement.*

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