French-English unity

Montreal teachers’ heroic battle

MONTREAL — Unity of the
teachers in the French Catholic
and English Protestant schools
ae ais city —the 9,000-strong

lance led by Mathias Rioux,
and the 3,000 members. of the
SS ae Teachers Association
€d by Donald Peacock — has

een cemented in the current

Struggle with th :
eminent. € Quebec gov

‘ Ever since 1968 the teachers
ae Watched in a kind of frus-
Eke helplessness as their
h ts, Conditions and salaries
ave eroded away.

In 1968 the government in
aan succession eholeced the
ae 3 to negotiate contracts by
hese of separate school
tie S that dotted the province.
= pas the teachers were oblig-

© negotiate with the govern-

ment for a c :
: Ontract :
cial scale. on a provin

The government then mana
ged
= an through a hotly contested
“ae Ct which greatly prejudic-
a € teachers. The work day
MS a by 15 minutes, the
ween year was extended by two
ince S .and some holidays were
st. Bill 25 forbade Strikes,

eeu were gravely over-
ethene an an  unexampled
arene of half-truths the
Blan €nt pronounced _ itself
tins eat a pupil-teacher ra-
fae to 1, even comparing it
as y to Ontario. The real
pale S were revealed as 35 or
in pupils for each teacher. In
aera to fabricate, the
pale Wee ead counted princi-
oe gpuncipals, music and
“As the contr. i

th act expiry neared,
in jeover™mment patane bolder
cue efforts to whittle away
puble gain Made by those in the
Of ian eee: Under the guise
teache ing a method whereby
TS would fit into neat cate-

Currj
er requine fe nd training a teach-
ly, thece wn cach level. Natur-

Telation Se requirements had no
8overnm © Past training. The
Wy ait then applied these
teachers ‘rements to the 70,000
ers wit Of the province. Teach-
Could no 1 years of university
Cific dem nee? satisfy the spe-
and wer, ands of Regulation 4
O dec] € therefore condemned

: 4ssification, They were

enly robbed,
Suitable an,

ange alogy would be

Medics the curriculum of
, vas o ents from four to
Braduate and then require all

Physicians to return to

4

w
the 6th fe you to

Executive of the Alliance des Professeurs de Montreal (President
Mathias Rioux in the middle) at the Paul Sauve Centre meeting on
Feb. 3, which was joined by the English school teachers.
fore the signing of the 1968
contract.

university for two more years.)
Thousands of teachers rushed

headlong back to night school in

an effort to regain their status.

There is no end to the greed
of benevolent authority. The
government then arrogantly pro-
posed that salaries for some
teachers had been excessive
since Regulation 4 was retro-
active to 1968, and brazenly de-
manded that teachers repay
“overpayments.”

A case in point is one teacher,
whose salary for two months is
normally $1,100, who was given
a cheque for $1.19.

Declassification became a mark
of doom. Teachers with degrees
from accredited but foreign uni-
versities found themselves shift-
ed from category 19 to category
14, Teachers who had signed
bona fide contracts in foreign
countries found after four
months that they faced a 20%
cut in salary.

The ruse became apparent.
Salaries were being cut, advanc-
ed degrees were being discour-
aged and the foundation of
acquired rights had been under-
mined.

Under these conditions and
driven to desperation, the French
teachers of Montreal erupted in
a spontaneous strike and occu-
pied board premises. They de-
clared that they were undertak-
ing revolving “study sessions”
and would continue until the
government repealed the entire
scurrilous declassification.

The government ‘spokesman,
Mr. L’Allier, rejected their de-
mands for guaranteed scholarity
or subjective recognition of the
status of diplomas prevailing be-

2k se

schoek roses were lovingly painted on thousands of postcards at all
On German Democratic Republic to congratulate Angela
Qnd er birthday—Jan. 26. “We send you our
: be free” is the message written by the pupils of
Fm in the Third Potsdam Secondary School.

best greetings

It was at this stage that the
Montreal Teacher’s Association
actively joined: in. Initiated at a
school in Westmount, a motion
was brought to the executive
which asked that the MTA
undertake to support the Al-
liance and if necessary join them
in their study sessions. It met
with large approval.

The following day the entire
English school system in Mont-
real ground to a halt. Here was
unity in practise!

February 4, 1971 was indeed
a-glorious day. For the first time
in Quebec’s history of education
the French and English teachers
joined forces at the Paul Sauvé

Arena for a combined study ses-.

sion. In a carnival atmosphere
which featured singing of Auld
Lang Syne in French and Eng-
lish, & united policy of action
was welded whereby the asso-
ciations would act in concert
against the machinations of the
government and the collusive
school boards.

This was accomplished in the
face of the government’s overt
efforts to intimidate the entire
teaching corps with threats of
inquiries and the appointment of
Abbé Dion as a one-man Star
Chamber.

This unprecedented challenge
to the authorities was followed
by a veritable hailstorm of vilifi-
cation. Newspapers bewailed the
lack of “responsibility on the
part of the profession,” and
moaned about the fate of work-
ing parents who had no one to
care for their children. Crocodile
tears, indeed! A letter to the edi-
tor by a group of teachers illu-
minated the point by saying: “If
The Star ever succeeded in con-
veying in simple terms the
teacher's struggle to secure
acquired rights, keep quality
education instead of having to
constantly battle norms and
ratios, then we believe the par-
ents would be in the vanguard

of those who support the MTA.” —

As the struggle continues the
cement of unity hardens. The
MTA and the Alliance have
agreed to a three-day truce per-
iod in order to permit the gov-
ernment to submit to their de-
mands. They are asking for “iron
clad guarantees of acquired clas-
sification rights.”

If there is no agreement, the
English and French teachers in-
tend to resume rotating study
sessions effective Feb. 17.

(A.P.)

Most of the people in English
Canada know little about the
political prisoners in Quebec.
Naturally some of the names
have become familiar, such as
Michel Chartrand, the fiery
anarcho-syndicalist, Pierre Val-
lieres and Charles Gagnon, both
of whom are the acknowledged
leaders or intellectual inspiration
for some young and intransigent
French Canadians—emotion and
despair managed to seize the
hearts and minds of sections of
Quebec petty bourgeois youth,
when the violence and exploita-
tion of the ruling class was re-
vealed to them, with a conse-
quence that was both juvenile
and pathetic. Robert Lemieux is
a lawyer and silver-tongued agi-
tator who has impressed the au-
thorities with . his leadership
qualities so as to remain incar-
cerated with the others. Lastly
there is Jacques Larue-Langlois,
a journalist.

These five men are the leading
political prisoners of Quebec.
Since the events of October last
year they continue, except for
Larue-Langlois, to languish in
prison, deprived of bail, indicted
on charges that are ephemeral,
cited for contempt by jurists who
exhibit unbelievable venom (an
outrageous sentence of one year
in prison to Chartrand for con-

tempt of court), handicapped in.

their legal struggles by archaic
laws that are weighted against
justice and fair play, such as a
jury system which forbids wo-
men, youth or propertyless citi-
zens from sitting in judgement.

Class Assault

What characterizes these men
as political prisoners and what
must be chiselled into the minds
of everyone concerned is that
these men are in reality class
prisoners. The whole judicial pro-
cess is inextricably wound up
with the decision by the Cana-
dian ruling class to stifle any
form or manifestation of strug-

gle against the regime. Capital’s -

determined assault is meant to
force the working class to pay
for any reduction of its inflated
profits. Not only are the mono-
polists determined to: forestall
social advance, but they are on
an agreed course aimed at re-
moving many acquired rights
from the working class in Can-
ada.

The persecution of. these men,
is a trial balloon, a test for some
of the novel weapons devised by
the servants of the establish-
ment, legal weapons such as the
Public Order Act which com-
bines terror and reaction.

If they succeed, then the door
will be open for further massive
assaults.

Surrounded by police, the five
leave the courtroom.

In Quebec, of course, the en-
tire web of legal persecution
also serves as a Clever form of
national oppression. With snide
manipulation the media is hav-
ing a field day in its attempt to
further widen the gulf between
English and French. Not only are
special laws reserved for Que-
bec but deliberate chauvinism is
injected ‘into each development.

A fitting example appeared in
the recent Chambly by-election
in which the Liberal candidate
Jean Cournoyer was the victor.
He was opposed by a candidate
from the Parti Québecois, Pierre
Marois who stunned everyone
by winning 33% of. the vote. It
was Mr. Marois who claimed
that the country was charged
with an “atmosphere” directly
due to the trials and was remin-
iscent of a “legal Brinks affair.”

And again using the political
trials as emphasis, Jean Mar-
chand, Ottawa’s “bull in the
china shop,” declared the day
before the elections that any sig-
nificant electoral change would
be the prelude to civil war in
Quebec,

Democratic Issue

The political trials of Quebec
must be turned against the rul-
ing class. They must be trans-
formed into a composite struggle
not only for the freedom of those
unjustly imprisoned but a whole-
sale demand for restoration of
democratic rights, an end to re-
pression and reaction.

It is a noble challenge that
faces all Canadians to take up
the cry to free the political pris-
oners of Quebec. It is a di .0-
cratic demand that should unite
the efforts of all to whom free-
dom is dear.

Reaction is fearful of the forces
that are stirring in French Can-
ada. In their misanthropic ftenzy
they are determined to suffocate
forever the militancy and con-

‘sciousness of Quebeckers.

It is apparent:that the domin-
ant class has set out on a course
to poison the relations between
nations, sow seeds of scorn and
mistrust, of suspicion and hate.
Led by the sybarite Trudeau, the
Ottawa pack are off and running.
They have the aid of sections of
know-nothing chauvinists who
are howling for the hides of the
political prisoners.

Unity Above All

The need for unity is impera-
tive. In Quebec the significant
aspect of the struggle is that it
is being led by the three main
bodies of organized labor. Ob-
jectively they have taken up the

challenge of monopoly. They’

have gone across the province
in an attempt to explain to their
members the need for struggle.
They have correctly pointed out
the dangers inherent in repres-
sion, which is aimed directly at
the working men and women of
Quebec. They have led demon-
strations and formed committees.

It remains for English Cana-
dians to fully join the chorus in
strength, to raise their voices
against the Public Order Act, to
realize that the struggle for the
freedom of the political prison-
ers in Quebec is the linchpin in
the struggle for the restoration
of democratic rights throughout
Canada.

In freeing Charttand, Lemieux
and the other Quebec political
prisoners, the democratic forces
of Canada would be saying “No”
to all repressive labor laws and
witch hutncing.

PACIFIC TRIBUNE—FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 19, 1971—PAGE 5