[discussions] l'Admin. de l'U. Concordia attaque le syndicat étudiant

Une attaque contre le droit d'association à
l'Université Concordia, l'administration exige une
intervention des Ministères des finances, de la
justice et de l'éducation.
BEnoit Marsan


CSU: student-worker union solidarity *please forward*

*Friends please forward this to any labour lists you
are on...*


To all Canadian Unions,

Even though the Concordia Student Union (CSU) is not a
labour union, it is
similar to a labour union in its principles, its
organizational structure
and its aims. It is a union of all undergraduate
Concordia students and is
dedicated to protecting their interests. The CSU is
now calling for the
support of unions from across Canada in its fight to
protect students'
(and staff's) right to due process, freedom from
administrative and
corporate interference in our internal union affairs
and free speech.

Fundamental union rights have recently come under
attack by the
administration at  Concordia, an English language
university located in
Montreal. The attack started in earnest when the
university rector,
Frederick Lowy, arbitrarily expelled two student
representatives, Laith
Marouf and Tom Keefer, during the summer semester.
Laith Marouf is the
CSU's VP Internal and Tom Keefer is a CSU Councilor.
By expelling these
two outspoken critics of the privatization of
education and outspoken
proponents of Palestinian human rights, the rector
circumvented the
University's Code of Rights and Responsibilities. This
can be compared to
a company firing those who are active in organizing or
bargaining on
behalf of a union.

The second significant attack on the student union
happened when the
university administration mobilized hundreds of
Engineering and Commerce
students to vote down a CSU resolution condemning
corporations that profit
from the murder of union activists in the Colombian
public
telecommunications industry, and subsequently
promoting a recall
petition of the current union executive. This is
similar to a company
interfering in union affairs. By working to recall the
current executive,
the administration is effectively trying to turn the
CSU into a "company
union".

Third, the administration attempted to dissolve the
student union,
claiming that  its publications are somehow illegal.
In the letters to
various provincial agencies the university's legal
council had to resort
to anti-sedition laws not used since the fight against
unionized labour of
the 1930s.

The Quebec government rejected the claim, but not
before the Montreal
Gazette ran an editorial titled "Students must rein in
CSU." This is like
a company attacking the right to free speech of union
members.

Fourth, the administration recently changed, without
notice, how it
disperses fees collected from students and arbitrarily
imposed a 1.61%
bad-debt fee, thus reducing the funds available to
every on-campus
association. More "company" interference in union
affairs. Imagine an
employer holding back the union dues of its employees
and charging the
union for dues collection!

Finally, the administration recently gave the
addresses of all 30 current
student union Councilors to last year's runner-up
presidential candidate.
The addresses were used to have bailiffs hand-deliver
a lawyer's letter
that vaguely threatened any Councilor who would impede
last year's loser
from becoming the next president. It is estimated that
the cost for the
bailiff and lawyer fees is over two thousand dollars,
an amount few
students have at their disposal (but this would be a
mere drop in the
bucket in the university's budget). Would a labour
union tolerate its
employer financing a candidate running for a union
office?

The university administration has attacked the CSU
because it has been
successful at raising student awareness about many
issues including free
trade and the corporate agenda. Moreover, the CSU has
been able to freeze
"backdoor" tuition fees hikes, get accredited (under
Quebec law this is
similar to a trade union accreditation), start a free
lunch program and
engage in other battles that have empowered students
and reduced corporate
domination over university life.

With an election coming (November 26-28), it is
crucial that the
university administration hears the voice of the
Canadian union movement
denouncing outside manipulation in union affairs. We
invite all unions to
demonstrate their support for the Concordia Student
Union's autonomy by
emailing or faxing the rector, passing resolutions
denouncing the
administration's tampering and with any other means at
their disposal.

In solidarity

CSU VP External
Genvieve Page

Please send letters of support to:

Rector Frederick Lowy 
fax: 514-848-4546

please cc them to:

the Concordia Student Union csu@csu.tao.ca
fax: 514-848-7450

For more information contact:

David Bernans, CSU Researcher
 or 514-848-7421

Here is a suggested letter of solidarity that you
might consider sending:


Dr. Lowy,

Our members are extremely concerned about your
meddling in the affairs of
the Concordia Student Union.

If you have disciplinary problems with student
representatives you have
access to the Office of Rights and Responsibilities.
There is no need to
arbitrarily expel students by rectorial decree. If Tom
Keefer and Laith
Marouf really are, as you claim, being banned from the
university for
disciplinary reasons rather than political ones, the
Rights and
Responsibilities hearing panel will issue a decision
that should satisfy
you.

It is inappropriate for the university administration
to be taking a
partisan position in internal student union affairs.
We respectfully ask
that you refrain from mobilizing students to protect
your corporate
partners from justified and well documented criticism.
We would also ask
that you not involve yourself in any way in the
upcoming CSU elections.
Students should be allowed to freely elect the people
who represent them
in their dealings with the administration.

We consider your call for a provincial investigation
into the affairs of
the Concordia Student Union to be entirely
unwarranted. The Student Union
has done nothing illegal by producing a controversial
student agenda. Nor
is it illegal to criticize corporations that profit
from human rights
abuses.

Sincerely,


=====
Deuxième rencontre étudiante internationale
International Students Conference
Segundo encuentro internacional
http://rencontre.n3.net/
http://internationalconference.n3.net/
http://encuentro.n3.net/



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