Cégep de Saint-Laurent workers give the board of directors an ultimatum

Faced with urgent infrastructure issues and numerous budget cuts, workers at the Cégep de Saint-Laurent in Montreal and their allies interrupted a meeting of the Cégep’s board of directors on January 28. 

Union members delivered a message explaining that if the government proceeds with job cuts between now and May 2026, the institution’s employees will have no choice but to go on strike.

The letter, read before the board by several activists from the Cégep, as well as from the union representing employees of the Bibliothèque et Archives nationales du Québec and Sainte-Justine Hospital, strongly denounced the CAQ government’s inaction in the face of more than a year of mobilization against the hiring freeze and budget cuts that have been imposed. More than a hundred Cégep employees were present at the November 29 demonstration against François Legault’s government.

Many workers have noticed the deterioration of the cégep and student services, which they attribute to the Legault government’s significant cuts to the cégep network. 

“Students no longer have easy access to nurses at the college; we are crammed into offices and classrooms because there is not enough space. We have to cope with staff shortages and reduced work teams, forcing us to be constantly creative in order to maintain cégep services,” states the letter presented by the union members.

In addition to having to work in stressful conditions and manage excessive workloads, many employees are not even sure they will be able to keep their jobs this year, as they already anticipate further cuts announced by the government:

“We will not accept further cuts to the payroll. We are tired of waiting for the new building that was promised to us, which would bring our community back together and finally provide us with adequate space to breathe. That is why we have decided to continue our mobilization.” 

The central message from the workers to the board of directors of Cégep Saint-Laurent, and indirectly to the CAQ government, is very clear about their demands and the seriousness of their struggle:

“We will soon have a government that is more illegitimate than ever, led by a premier we did not even elect. The next government must understand who it is dealing with. (…) In concrete terms, you must circulate this request among your colleagues and your contacts at the ministry: the employees of the Cégep de Saint-Laurent will not accept job cuts next May. If the measures we take do not bear fruit, we will have no choice: we will go on strike.”