As the Montreal student strike passes it’s 100th day, it shows no signs of slowing down or losing steam. If anything, the new draconian anti-protest laws being imposed on the students in Quebec are drawing in more allies from across the broad spectrum of the progressive community. On May 22nd, the movement saw a boom after it was officially endorsed by CUPE, the Canadian Union of Public Employees. CUPE President Paul Moist:“We cannot stand by while governments continue to violate our basic rights in the name of austerity and funding cuts that only fuel the growing gap between rich and poor. Today we stand in solidarity with Quebecers who oppose these measures" (CUPE National President Paul Moist).
This news highlights a lesson that is once again being re-learned by students and labor organizations alike- that the interests of labor will often necessarily intersect with the interests of the broader civil society. The same forces that are pushing toward cuts and privatizations in student services are also herding society toward raised retirement ages, slashed pensions, and neutered union contracts. CUPE realizes these intrinsic relationships, offering words of encouragement to students:
“Students shouldn’t have to suffer huge debt loads before they even get to work. They’ve seen the cost of post-secondary education grow outrageously in the United States and the rest of Canada, and they don’t want a society where only the rich can afford to go to school. I admire their stand, and CUPE supports them 100 per cent.”
With comparatively few resources, labor organizations can see massive dividends from investing in student groups. Regularly, a labor organization will invest millions of dollars on a single election (AFSCME has already pledged 100 million toward the 2012 re-election of Barack Obama). With merely an endorsement and perhaps a small financial commitment dedicated toward organizer stipends and student resources, labor can see legions of dedicated students championing causes of worker rights on campus. And, perhaps most importantly, guarantee future generations of talented youth lending their abilities to the causes of labor.
The new logic of austerity means that both cuts to social programs and attacks on workers are justified, not on ideological grounds as they were in the past, but rather on the practical need to “tighten our belts” in this unsure economic climate. This means that students, public employees, and workers of all stripes need to work together to forge (or, in some cases, remake) networks that can pose a viable counter-narrative.
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