CQSU is part of PSAC-Québec (Public Service Alliance of Canada), itself affiliated at provincial level with FTQ (Fédération des Travailleurs et travailleuses du Québec) and at federal level with PSAC.
All these unions and union centrals are members of the CLC (Canadian Labour Congress).
CQSU is also a member of the University Partners’ Table (TPU), which brings together organizations from different unions in Quebec and represents students, support, technical and professional staff, lecturers and professors.
CQSU is therefore ideally placed to defend the interests of the university sector at both the provincial and federal levels!
May 2024 – PSAC Triennial Convention (National)
The PSAC Triennial Convention was held between May 26 and 31, 2024 in Ottawa. A delegation from PSAC-Québec was present, including several CQSU members.
This 20th edition of the Triennial National Convention was a great opportunity to look back on the historic strike of 2023 (Common Front) and to discuss the direction PSAC members want their union to take in the years to come.
In particular, a resolution was adopted to create a national committee of DCLs to improve recognition of Directly Charted Locals (see PSAC-Québec article). A great step forward for the consideration of the university sector!
In addition, Sharon DeSousa was elected PSAC President, and is the first racialized person to hold this position.
Find reports and documents on the PSAC website.
March 2024 – Directly Charted Locals Roundtable, AFPC-Québec
Several CQSU members, both from the Executive and from member locals, took part in the DCL Round Table organized by PSAC-Quebec on March 21, 22 and 23, 2024 in Montreal.
This table is an excellent opportunity to get together, meet the DCL from the university sector and share our needs with PSAC-Québec!
We also celebrated the 20th anniversary of university unionization in Quebec.
CQSU’s responsible for mobilization and communication, Jeanne Joachim, even had the opportunity to give a 30-minute participatory presentation, in which she used game theory to put forward an impactful argument for joining CQSU. Several local sections showed interest: to be continued!
In addition, we had presentations by various speakers on the following subjects:
- New Privacy Obligations for Unions
- Case Law Review
- How to better collaborate locally
- Mobilisation
- Join the membership
- Collective bargaining
Find the convention booklet and presentations on the PSAC-Québec website!
November 2023 – Open letter in La Presse, with the University Partners’ Table
CQSU took part in drafting the open letter published in La Presse by the University Partners’ Table
With this letter, we are expressing our opposition to the considerable increase in tuition fees for non-Quebec students announced on October 13, 2023, and which was proposed by the government without consultation with university partners.
The full letter is available on the La Presse website at this link.
June 2023 – PSAC Quebec Convention
This convention is an opportunity to vote on the PSAC-Quebec budget and to amend its constitution to improve its operations. CQSU coordinator Sébastien Paquette chaired the Finance Committee, which was decisive in the adoption of favorable budget recommendations. We were thus able to make the university sector’s issues heard on a national level!
List (non-exhaustive) of resolutions adopted in favor of the interests of members of the university sector:
- Representation of Directly Chartered Locals on the National Board of Directors (S-29): improved representation of the university sector on PSAC decision-making bodies.
- Unpaid internships (G-14A): The PSAC is committed to lobbying the provincial and federal governments to ban unpaid internships and practicums at all levels of study.
- Protecting the status of post-docs as highly qualified personnel: no post-docs may be referred to as students, trainees or other inappropriate terms.
- Increase in CQSU’s budget, allocated by PSAC-Quebec, from the end of 2025.
For a complete list of resolutions adopted, consult the convention minutes!
May 2023 – House of Commons Standing Committee on Science and Technology
Coordination (Sébastien Paquette, ASSEP) and STEP presidency (Cynthia Mbuya-Bienge) testified in the context of the Government of Canada’s Graduate and Postdoctoral Fellowship Programs, in favor of massive refinancing of these programs, not only for the overall envelope, but especially for the envelope per project.
You can watch Sébastien appearance (12:05:00) and Cynthia appearance (12:16:00) in this video!
January 2023 – PSAC National Health and Safety Conference
CQSU was represented by its coordinator, Sébastien Paquette. A resolution was adopted to improve the representativeness of Directly Chartered Locals (DCL) members in relation to Components. DCLs are the structure used by university unions, so this point is particularly important to us! This resolution has also been tabled by the conference for the 2024 national convention. Let’s hope we’ll also have better representation across Canada!
January 2023 – QFL Convention
The 33rd convention of the Quebec Federation of Labour (or FTQ in French) was held at the Palais des congrès in Montreal, with some 1,200 union representatives from across Quebec in attendance.
The CQSU coordinator (Sébastien Paquette) sat on the resolutions committee, ensuring that major resolutions for the university community were debated at the congress.
In particular, the following resolution tabled by ASSEP, a CQSU member section, was debated on the floor. Thanks to other members support, it was adopted as followed:
- Protection of the status of post-docs as highly qualified personnel: prohibition on designating post-docs as students, trainees or other inappropriate terms. It is requested that the FTQ, together with the CLC, press the governments of Quebec and Canada to remedy this situation.
For more information on the resolutions adopted, consult the report on the QFL website.
