"Autonomy Among Us": An Interview with Quebec Student Strike Organizers
In mid-March of this year, 35,000-40,000 students at CÉGEPs (pre-university and technical colleges) and universities across Quebec went on strike for a week. Unlike the 2012 strike which was led by Coalition Large de l'ASSÉ (CLASSE), this year's action was developed around a different organizing model and critique of the post-secondary education system in the province. The rebellion against tuition hikes and the theme of student debt at the heart of the 2012 strike have been replaced by a different analysis, one which places unwaged work at the center of the movement's organizing. Inspired by the perspectives of autonomist-feminist organizers of the 1970s, the Comités Unitaires sur le Travail Étudiant (Student Work Unitary Committees, CUTE) have advanced a critique of the unwaged internships which are a key mechanism for the insertion of workers into labor markets. These unpaid placements are especially common for students in training for traditionally under-valued and feminized sectors, such as education, caring and social work. Adopting an organizing model driven by the principles of autonomy and rank-and-file organizing, CUTE's mobilizations aim to hone a feminist and anti-capitalist critique of the interface between the university system and labor markets, vindicating the value of student work and women's work. Elizabeth Sarjeant and Enda Brophy interviewed Jeanne Bilodeau and Éloi Halloran on March 20, 2019, as the strike was unfolding.
Image credit: CUTE (Campagne sur le travail étudiant)
