600 Concordia University employees prepare to strike during start of fall semester

After nearly a year of negotiations, 600 unionized Concordia University employees plan to go on strike at the start of the fall semester.

The Syndicat des employé-es professionnel-le-s de l’Université Concordia (SEPUC-CSN) announced they plan to strike on Sept. 3.

This will affect the upcoming academic year for nearly 50,000 students.

The union began a conciliation process with the university due to the lack of progress at the negotiating table for telework last winter.

“We need to find a solution that considers the needs of students, the university and professional employees,” said Fédération des professionnèles-CSN Vice President Kathrin Peter. “Nowadays, teleworking is the norm for many professionals.”

However, a few weeks ago, the union gave itself a two-week strike mandate in the hopes of reaching an agreement with Concordia.

According to the union, the university has not budged on its position and refuses to address working from home during negotiation meetings.

“Right now, access to hybrid work is inequitable within the university,” said SEPUC-CSN President Shoshana Kalfon in a press release. “We want to adopt a framework that would avoid any form of injustice and also guarantee that professional employees will be able to do part of their work from home.”

The union represents a variety of employees at the university, including counsellors, information technology specialists, as well as coordinators, psychologists and nurses.

Additionally, in Concordia University’s 2024 Climate Action Plan, they encouraged employees to work remotely to reduce its carbon footprint that comes with commuting.

The union says they don’t understand why the university doesn’t share the same sentiment at the bargaining table.

“We hope that the employer will listen to the union loud and clear. Our members want to negotiate to avoid negative consequences for the student population, but they will be ready to strike, if necessary,” concluded Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain-CSN President Dominique Daigneault.

The CSN represents nearly 330,000 workers within eight federations and 13 regional central councils, mainly in Quebec.