UQAM teaching assistants block access to school, metro station
University student employees hold hard picket lines after voting for an unlimited strike
The University of Quebec in Montreal's (UQAM) student employees are blocking access to several of the school's buildings today during the first day of an unlimited strike.
Access to the school through the Berri-UQAM Metro station is also blocked.
The union SÉTUE represents close to 3,000 teaching assistants and researchers across the university campus.
As part of the unlimited strike, the union members are not performing their usual tasks including marking and overseeing exams.
Tension ce matin aux entrées bloquées de l'UQAM par les étudiants-employés en grève <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/rcmtl?src=hash">#rcmtl</a> <a href="https://t.co/WUxK0xsvHc">pic.twitter.com/WUxK0xsvHc</a>
—@ThomasGerbetUnion to continue with pressure tactics
Student employees say they will continue to hold protests and picket until they are back at the negotiating table with UQAM.
Chloé Fortin-Côté, a spokesperson for SÉTUE, said that the university relies on student employees. Teaching assistants take on the bulk of corrections in classes that sometimes have as many as 200 students.
"We want to show that without marking, UQAM can't function," Fortin-Côté told Radio-Canada.
UQAM's student employees have been without a contract since Dec. 31, 2013.