Striking Université de Montréal lecturers rejected the university’s final offer late Monday night, with 64 per cent of union members voting against the proposed contract concerning salaries and class sizes.
U de M administration has said that if a deal was not reached by Monday, April 5, the university would cancel the classes taught by lecturers.
Students in the cancelled classes will be assigned readings for the remainder of the semester and will still write final exams. The university says the move will allow students to finish their classes on time and will avoid the need to extend the semester into the summer.
As of press time it was still unclear whether the school would cancel classes.
But the university’s student unions are up in arms over the potential move 8212; they are calling on the provincial government to intervene and have threatened to take legal action if the classes are cancelled.
A small group of students spent the long weekend camping outside the Montreal offices of the education ministry.
Six students were present at the campsite on Monday morning, but Nicolas Descroix, secretary general of the Fédération des associations étudiantes du campus de l’Université de Montréal, said that around 30 students had been involved in the protest. A larger protest is planned for April 6.
Lecturers at the university, the second-largest in Canada, have been on strike for over a month vying to increase lecturer salaries and reduce class sizes. Both sides have blamed the other for the failure to reach an agreement.
