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cegep teaching superior teaching women s committee in 2010 we re on the march israel-palestine understand the history solidarity with palestine the bds campaign boycott divestment sanctions the world education forum in palestine in october 2010 a union visibility campaign public finances it s urgent to take action reimbursement of travel expenses encouraging carpooling and public transit things are moving with the sessional lecturers in this issue

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editorial the news was announced last month but went almost unnoticed the united states agreed to join the ahelo programme which under the aegis of the oecd is to develop quality criteria for learning and spinoff effects of university activities throughout the world the credibility or even feasibility of this project had suffered greatly up until now from the absence of the u.s since they will now be participating there is every reason to think that the work will pick up speed we are headed for an international ranking of universities ­ in fact a shanghai-based version already exists the idea of establishing so-called quality criteria for university teaching is a good example of the international trend in higher education towards closer stricter control of institutions of higher learning autonomy you said the scope of the phenomenon is very disturbing in universities the work involved in teaching is increasingly carved into separate tasks there are markers accompanists lecturers teachers researchers it is literally taylorism applied to higher education autonomy you said what this new paradigm drawn directly from a commercial vision of education puts into question is the autonomy of universities and thus our professional autonomy and professional autonomy is not limited to what happens in the classroom it is also a matter of the faculty s place and role in the institution there are numerous attacks ­ for example on full and complete recognition for lecturers in universities or recognition of the union in cegeps québec is not isolated from this in fact the trend is very much in evidence substantial public funding for higher education here is invoked as a reason to increase controls of all kinds legislation on governance in both cegeps and universities already reflects this goal based on a narrow understanding of accountability at the college level teachers workloads stemming from accountability are so onerous that even the fédération des cégeps has condemned the situation jean trudelle president our collective agreements remain the battlefield for this major confrontation we must not be afraid to clearly outline the issues of professional autonomy in our demands and seek through collective bargaining to entrench them in contract clauses it is not merely an issue of accountability there is also the matter of profits once quality standards are brought in measurement and control agencies are not far behind in the united states there is a formidable private market for measuring and assessing learning and a real market in services for rating and accrediting educational institutions take the role played in cegeps here by the commission d évaluation de l enseignement collégial commission for the assessment of college teaching are we really all that far from a government decision to turn mandates like these over to private enterprise 18 things are moving with the sessional lecturers 17 travel expenses encouraging carpooling and public transit editor in chief micheline thibodeau coordination and edition france désaulniers contributions marie blais alexandre coudé denis kosseim odette lefrançois carole morache caroline senneville claire tremblay jean trudelle translation margaret heap cover photography karine l ecuyer graphic design brunel design printing quadriscan circulation 2000 copies fneeq­csn 1601 av de lorimier montréal qc h2k 4m5 tel 514 598-2241 ­ fax 514 598-2190 fneeq.reception csn.qc.ca ­ www.fneeq.qc.ca photo michel giroux 15 public finances it s urgent to take action 14 regroupement privé a union visibility campaign 13 the world education forum in palestine october 2010 12 the bds campaign boycott divestment sanctions 10 solidarity with palestine involvement that has consequences 7 summary 5 women s committee in 2010 we re on the march israel-palestine understand the history 3 cegep teaching superior teaching legal deposit bibliothèque et archives nationales du québec library and archives canada isbn-13 978-2-923606-19-4 Édition originale isbn-13 978-2-923606-18-7 this publication is printed on recycled paper we care about our forest is published by the fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du québec fneeq­csn represents close to 27,000 members from cegeps private institutions and universities it is the most representative union organisation for higher education in quebec carnets 2 carnets 22 ­ spring 2010

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cegep teaching superior teaching photo michel giroux the public-sector common front decided that its basic strategic framework was to reach a negotiated settlement for march 31 when the current collective agreements expire the government itself agreed to this timeframe obviously no agreement is possible according within this timeframe too many insurmountable obstacles have appeared in almost all the sectors micheline thibodeau fneeq vice-president it is easy to see that collective bargaining for cegep teachers has monopolized most of the debates and energy in the regroupement cegep in recent weeks teachers demands revolve around three main priorities additional resources for teaching activities per se better working conditions for teachers with precarious job status and an updating of the salary structure that would both affect entry-level compensation and provide enhanced recognition for echelons requiring master s and doctoral degrees obviously the government is serving up the same old line about the dire state of public finances that it uses in each round of public-sector bargaining there s no point here in trying to sum up the developments in this bargaining it is however most relevant to note that as this is happening a number of cegep teachers unions are confronted with a challenge to their role as union representatives this challenge has an influence on bargaining talks because it undermines members confidence in the bargaining process not that our counterparts are in bad faith but there is photo bruce toombs carnets 22 ­ spring 2010 3

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good reason to think that regardless of the outcome of negotiations some administrators will continue to claim the right to powers that clearly amount to an exaggeration of management rights are unions and teaching compatible the union meeting must elect its representatives to the council the union meeting is the place where teachers come together to make decisions thus taking positions on various institutional policies is part of what these meetings are supposed to do some cegep administrators assert that the two are at odds since when does defending teaching conditions put our professionalism into question what conception of a human being suggests that a teacher s ideas vary depending on which of her or his many roles is involved should we have contradictory positions when we intervene as union members teachers parents or citizens the attacks on union representation are increasingly numerous professional autonomy be it individual or collective is one of the characteristics of higher education the extremely serious challenges to union representation on so-called educational issues greatly offend us as teachers in the cegep system providing quality teaching is part of our concerns on a daily basis on a daily basis in course preparation course delivery and learning assessment it s a matter of individual autonomy on a daily basis as well in the many places we work with others departments program committees curriculum committees and the commission of studies or academic council part of the commission of studies mandate is to advise the board of governors on various institutional policies including learning assessment curriculum evaluations and the quality of the language of teaching the role of the commission des études must not be reduced to that of a focus group the insistence of some administrations on trying to appoint the teachers who will sit on the commission goes hand in hand with reducing the role of such teachers who would henceforth only represent themselves photo france dÉsaulniers obviously this is absolutely incompatible the collective agreements are clear with the principle of professional whenever the college forms a comand collective autonomy mittee which includes professors only the union shall be competent it is unacceptable to think that to appoint them unless there are teachers as a work collective would specific provisions to the contrary not be able to voice the results of in the collective agreement fneeq their group discussions in their 2-2.08 fac 2-2.09 this contract meetings we cannot accept that clause could hardly be any clearer administrators know better than teachers when it comes to learning assessment for example wanting the principles us to accept at the bargaining table that the appointment of departof top-down ment and programme co-ordinamanagement tors be ratified by the dean of studies and demanding that they be are no longer used accountable for the implemenin the majority of tation of institutional policies private companies decided on the basis of an increasingly limited consensus amounts they are even less to questioning whether college relevant in higher teaching is part of higher education i education 4 carnets 22 ­ spring 2010

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women s committee in 2010 we re on the march this is the theme chosen by the collectif du 8 mars for international women s day this year caroline senneville fneeq general secretary carole morache fneeq women s committee the theme chosen by the collectif du 8 mars for international women s day this year also kicks off the 2010 world march of women the demands of the march this year focus on women s economic autonomy because the equal rights obtained in québec cannot be a reality if women are still financially dependent world march of women activities have begun and will culminate in a march in rimouski on october 17 put the date on your calendar now and plan to meet up with the members of the fneeq women s committee in 2010 we re on the march is a good reflection of the dynamism that characterizes the members of the fneeq women s committee in carrying out the mandates they ve been given to improve the proportion of women on executive committees and in the federation s decision-making bodies to get a better overview of women s participation we plan to continue the work of compiling records of women s attendance in union and federation bodies and structures to take its work further the committee also intends to work with unions and women to identify the women who ll be on the march members of the fneeq women s committee annie pomerleau teacher at École pasteur regroupement privé carole morache teacher at cegep montmorency regroupement cégep caroline senneville general secretary of the fneeq with political responsibility for the committee and raymonde simard lecturer at the université du québec à rimouski regroupement université barriers to women s participation in union life and ways of overcoming them particularly with respect to family-work balance concretely we hope to create a discussion group on this with women delegates at the june federal council meeting then in the fall we would visit about ten local unions chosen to reflect the federation s diversity for further discussions the ultimate goal will be to use all the information gathered from these women to develop a set of resources awareness tools suggested lines of action for unions as you can see the fneeq women s committee has its work cut out for it we will however need the collaboration of our affiliated unions this is why we have sent or will soon be sending unions a questionnaire aimed at identifying the people in charge of status of women issues we want to build a network for information and discussion on the committee s work plan to address contemporary feminist issues thank you in advance for your contribution to our work i carnets 22 ­ spring 2010 5

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the year 2010 will be another landmark year for the women s movement together with women from around the world we will continue our march against poverty and violence against women we will mobilize across quebec for the improvement of womens living and working conditions we will demand loud and clear concrete and urgent actions from the governments of quebec and canada our demands cover five fields of action · women s economic autonomy · indigenous women · violence against women · peace and demilitarization · common good and access to resources as long as all women are not free we will march the women s committee would also like to make our members better acquainted with the fédération des femmes du québec and its work since may 2009 caroline senneville who is general secretary of the fneeq and has political responsibility for the committee has been a member of the ffq s board of directors we invite you to become members every woman in québec can join as an individual member and each status of women committee in a local union can become a member as an association membership allows you to be part of decisions at the fédération des femmes du québec to vote to elect the president and to participate in discussions on political positions taken by the ffq as well as a member you are kept regularly informed about all the ffq s activities which amounts to a treasure trove of information for local status of women committees finally even though the membership fee is minimal it nonetheless helps provide funding for the federation to find out more or to join visit the ffq s web site join the fédération des femmes du québec www.ffq.qc.ca 6 carnets 22 ­ spring 2010

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a complicated question israel-palestine understand the history of the territory palestinians and the neighbouring arab states rejected this partition it was the start of the naqba an ethnic cleansing of palestine by jewish militia and the israeli army by the end of the first israeli-arab war in december 1949 the new jewish state occupied 78 of the territory and between 800,000 and 850,000 palestinians two thirds of the palestinian population had been expelled it is important to note that in international law ethnic cleansing is a crime against humanity note as well that in 1949 israel was accepted as a member of the un on the condition that it implement resolution 194 which stipulated that the palestinian refugees from 1947-49 or the 1948 refugees were to be returned to their homes or compensated from 1948 to 1967 palestine was composed of the west bank east jerusalem and the gaza strip 22 of historic palestine but in six days in june 1967 israel occupied the palestinian territories in a lightning war called a preventive strike this occupation continues to this day the golan heights belonging to syria are still occupied the sinai was returned to egypt note that in international law a state cannot acquire another s territory and that any territory occupied through war must be returned yet the west bank and east jerusalem have been sub we generally have the impression that the question of israel and palestine is complicated and that consequently it s better to leave it up to the experts to discuss the conflict we should refrain from making judgments because it would be perilous for a non-expert the israeli-palestinian question is not complicated it is a matter of the colonization of a territory and the indigenous people s resistance to this colonization in this sense the israeli-palestinian conflict is a classic colonial conflict for control of land as a review of the history makes clear in the early 20th century 8 of the population of palestine2 was jewish for its own imperialist reasons great britain promised in 1917 to promote the establishment of a national jewish homeland in palestine the balfour declaration and obtained a mandate from the society of nations to do so in 1922 thanks to great britain this was followed by mass immigration of jewish europeans1 in 1947 the un decided to partition palestine of course the un didn t consult the indigenous inhabitants of palestine who owned 93 of the land there and were still the majority more than 70 of the total population despite 25 years of massive immigration from europe the un s plan for partition created two states one arab 99 of the population and the other jewish only 55 of the population furthermore the jewish state obtained 56 denis kosseim fneeq international action committee this idea that the question is complicated is precisely the position put forward by the defenders of israel jewish or not the position of the defenders of palestine palestinian or not is that this impression of a complicated issue is manufactured artificially created i would argue first that the israelipalestinian question is not complicated and secondly that the impression of being confronted with a complicated issue is the result of propaganda campaigns designed to prevent people of good faith from raising questions thereby giving maximum leeway to a colonialist operation carnets 22 ­ spring 2010 7

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1947 1949 propaganda at the root of an erroneous perception3 1967 jected to intensive colonization for more than four decades now the wall ruled illegal by the international court of justice in 2004 continues to be built ­ not along the boundary between israel and the occupied palestinian territories but deep in the west bank itself along lines that enable israel to annex the best lands and aquifers the un report known as the goldstone report is damning the purpose of israel s aggression in gaza in december 2008 and january 2009 was to punish humiliate and terrorize a civilian population radically diminish its local economic capacity both to work and to provide for itself and to force upon it an ever increasing sense of dependency and vulnerability and the continuing blockade of gaza prevents palestinians in gaza from rebuilding and what about the one million palestinians who are citizens of israel ­ the descendants of palestinians who escaped the 1947-49 ethnic cleansing they live like second-class citizens in the jewish democracy constantly threatened with expulsion and dispossession because they are not jewish ­ meaning that the concept of equality crucial to democracy is inoperative ethnic cleansing occupation colonization state terrorism legally institutionalized racial discrimination disdain for the demands of international law almost 400 un resolutions ignored the israelipalestinian question is simple israel is a rogue state and the special status and treatment it enjoys at the un thanks to the u.s veto allows it to behave as a colonial state in the 20th and 21st centuries the land and resources necessary for its national security take the example of the gaza war the goldstone report doesn t use the mass media s explanatory framework justice goldstone who is jewish and zionist instead uses the explanatory framework of international law as a result literally 90 of the report is about israel s war crimes even its crimes against humanity the mass media didn t talk about the massacre in gaza or israel s crimes in gaza the mass media all talked about war crimes on both sides in the war in gaza implying an equivalence between israel and hamas if the mass media were to change their explanatory framework and adopt a legal or colonial explanatory framework instead of talking about a war they would talk about the slaughter of the civilian population in gaza that is the victim of israel s terrorism and israel that flouts international law israel that is still unpunished israel still protected by the united states and israel that should be suspended from the un the peace process provides another example of the mass media s biased reporting the emphasis is put on the process instead of the so if the israeli-palestinian question is not at all complicated where does this impression of a complicated conflict come from if the mass media did their job as the fourth estate they would be more careful in choosing the explanatory framework they use to report information on the israelipalestinian question the explanatory framework used by mass media in canada and québec is the prevailing framework in ottawa very close to washington s which follows the israeli line that israeli violence is defensive and legitimate using this framework each act of israeli violence is presented as a legitimate effort to ensure the security of its population and control 8 carnets 22 ­ spring 2010

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2000 today how to overcome this impasse people of good faith should answer the call made by palestinian civil society in 2005 and endorse and promote the international boycott disinvestment and sanctions bds campaign against israel as was the case previously with south africa such a campaign will eventually make israeli society realize that the cost of maintaining the status quo is too high and that israel s apartheid structures must be dismantled note in passing that the use of the term israeli apartheid is not rhetorical the term has been used by no other than ehud olmert former prime minister of israel and ehud barak former prime minister and current minister of defence for israel4 in canada a new jewish organization founded in march 2008 called independent jewish voices5 endorses the bds campaign6 the bds campaign is certainly a coercive method but it is a non-violent method that it should be emphasized proved its worth in south africa the demands of the bds campaign are an end to the occupation equality for palestinian citizens in israel and the return of palestinian refugees as stipulated in resolution 1947 i 2 one of the reasons for the partition of palestine was the search for a solution to the problem of displaced persons the euphemism used for survivors of the holocaust for the majority of jewish europeans at the time the promised land was america not palestine the problem was that the united states and canada were taking very few of them 4 karon tony «the apartheid will end when israelis have to face its cost» [page consulted on february 14 2010 http www.thenational.ae/apps/pbcs.dll/article?aid 20100207/opinion/702069887/1080 5 voir http www.independentjewishvoices.ca [page consulted on february 14 2010 6 see http www.bdsmovement.net q=node/453 [page consulted on february 14 2010 7 see http www.bdsmovement.net q=node/52#french [page consulted on february 14 2010 goal peace in this process now 20 years old the fundamental issue is never addressed namely a definitive withdrawal from the occupied territories the process has been blocked for two decades by israeli discourse about peace while paradoxically israeli colonization is intensified during the peace process in the 1990s the number of settlers in and around east jerusalem grew from 200,000 to 450,000 making a palestinian state unviable because there is no longer a contiguous territory if the mass media were to change their explanatory framework on the question of israel the headlines would read israel talks of peace but steals land sharon enemy of peace israel s wall is illegal israel s wall of shame etc instead of saying that israel is yet again the victim of a suicide attack the mass media would report that israel must end its occupation of pales tine instead of saying that israel is retaliating for palestinian violence the mass media would talk about palestinian resistance to illegal occupation so the mass media propagate a made in israel image to which our governments ambassadors university rectors or chancellors many performers sports teams etc subscribe it is the image of a democratic country of beaches wines and high-tech industry a country that is a victim a country in danger a country that seeks only to live in peace but that is forced by circumstances to defend itself it then becomes very hard for people of good faith to raise question and gives free rein to a colonialist operation when people of good faith ask questions the image is whipped out in the place of answers creating a cognitive dissonance that neutralizes the question 1 i use the term jewish europeans not european jews see sand shlomo comment le peuple juif fut inventé paris fayard 2008 3 see jensen robert «ny times and palestine imbroglio no conflict of interest with conventional wisdom» the rag blog febuary 9 2010 see also aussi http www.haqeeqat.org/2009/08/31/video-documentary-peace-propaganda-and-the-promised-land-media-the-israel-palestine-conflict [page consulted on february 14 2010 carnets 22 ­ spring 2010 9

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the fneeq and solidarity with palestine why is palestine a concern for the fneeq involvement that has consequences for several years now the fneeq has been involved in solidarity with the palestinian people in fact it s a central part of our international solidarity work along with other priorities and orientations such as work with haiti this has been especially the case since 2004 when about twenty members from affiliated unions participated in an international conference in ramallah on the theme of globalization education and social change we asked ronald cameron president of the fneeq until last june to discuss the scope and implications of the federation s involvement in this issue the situation in the middle east has always concerned the fneeq and the work that the international action committee has done on behalf of the federation for more than 5 years on this issue was not new in political terms the growing isolation of the population symbolized by the construction of the infamous wall of shame and events since the death of arafat ­ notably the cuts to international aid and israel s military attack on gaza in december 2008 ­ mean that international democratic organizations must not remain silent they must do more for the people of palestine in the early years of this century the solidarity movement was debating whether there should be a boycott but palestinian civil society had not called for one this was why after meeting with the teacher creativity center tcc group the idea of visiting the occupied territories as a tangible expression of teachers solidarity seemed crucial so the fneeq worked with this ngo and what conclusions do you draw from the fneeq s action since then has it had results obviously the federation s action alone can t change the situation there but the fneeq has made a real contribution to the development of greater solidarity with the palestinian people here in québec a solidarity that is part of growing international support for the palestinian cause our action has had an impact that extends far beyond the 2004 conference for instance participants have spoken out locally and we have worked more extensively with a number of solidarity organizations in particular the coalition for justice and peace in palestine cjpp in response to palestinian civil society s call in 2005 for boycott disinvestment and sanctions against the state of israel the fneeq was one of the first union organizations the palestinian teachers union to organize an international conference on globalization education and social change in ramallah in october 2004 10 carnets 22 ­ spring 2010

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worl social forum caracas 2006 workshop to organize the internationale conference in ramallah in the world to take up and publicize the call since then various organizations have followed suit particularly in education ­ the snes in france ucu in great britain and the csq in québec the fneeq s policy on this has always been to link this campaign to political education about the situation this is why a special issue of carnets was published in the fall of 2007 taking stock of the conflict the issue had a significant impact in unions as well as with many people in solidarity networks and the labour movement in québec it has been used for training and debate purposes on a number of occasions with various social organizations and groups the fneeq has also been part of many significant political demonstrations and activities on this issue in recent years one of the federation s officers went back to palestine last may with a cjpp delegation and the fneeq supported a delegation that participated in an international rally last december as part of the gaza freedom march at the last québec social forum in october 2009 the fneeq helped set up an inter-union cjpp committee in support of the bds campaign world education forum in october 2010 the fneeq convention last june reiterated its support for plans for a world education forum in palestine next october the international committee of the world social forum wsf had been mulling over the idea since the last forum held in bélem in 2009 the idea has now become an official project and work is under way in preparation for it in québec the organizations that have indicated an interest in the project include cjpp alternatives and the fneeq as well as the csn the conseil central du montréal métropolitain oxfam-québec paju and the ffq this international gathering will be one of the largest and most ambitious of the wsf s sectoral forums in the coming year the invitation is extended beyond the world of edu tcc is an ngo founded by a group of teachers in ramallah that is dedicated to providing support for teaching staff in the west bank and gaza to help them do a better job with young people in the traumatic conditions of military occupation thanks ronald www.fneeq.qc.ca/fr/accueil/publications carnets/carnets_palestine-final.pdf cation to all those committed to social justice and solidarity with the palestinian people the hope is that this event will contribute both to strengthening the role of education in the future of a more democratic society and to reducing the isolation of the women and men who struggle for this and share this outlook in palestine so i d like to use this interview to invite all the fneeq s unions and their members to support the forum either by participating or by providing financial support for the people who undertake to participate carnets 22 ­ spring 2010 11

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how the call started the bds campaign boycott divestment sanctions companies that you can boycott of israel s violations of international law and the problems caused by their investments the bds campaign will if effective change israel s image the international community must deem investment in israel and corporations that participate directly or indirectly in the oppression of the palestinian people to be morally unacceptable ment is there any need to prove of the dispute with palestithat israel is a criminal nians in accordance with internastate tional law it calls on israel to end when in full view of interna the occupation and colonization tional take down the wall and respect public opinion it systemati protect and facilitate palestinian cally violates international refugees right of return a similar initiative was taken in the 1980s law aimed at putting an end to aparand hundreds of resolutions adopted unanimously by thetheid in south africa international pressure for political change was un general assembly with pretty strong then the exception of israel the united states and microne divestment sia sanctions alexandre coudé fneeq international action committee launched on july 9 2005 by palestinian unions associations academics civil society groups and organizations for the defence of refugee rights the bds campaign is aimed mainly at urging people to stop consuming goods manufactured in israel or by international corporations that collaborate with israel the call invites the international community to undertake actions aimed at raising awareness in the international community and applying pressure on the israeli state boycotting israeli products is a form of non-violent direct action it lets people who are powerless make decisions as consumers to choose to support palestinians striving for freedom and justice this is a peaceful action aimed at trying to convince the israeli government to opt for a negotiated settle similarly divestment consists in putting an end to investments in israel and using economic power workers pension funds some unions solidarity funds funds of religious communities churches etc to try and convince corporations that finance and support the occupation to abide by the principles of international law divestment is an international action aimed at imposing economic restrictions to counter the application of israeli policies in seeking to make economic stakeholders aware despite the international court of justice s ruling more than five years ago that building the wall and colonization were illegal it has to be said that our governments are not taking any steps to force israel to abide by international law in limiting palestinians freedom of movement in refusing the recognize the right of return of palestinian refugees in discriminating against and seriously violating the democratic rights of palestinian citizens of israel and in committing war crimes against an entire civilian population in gaza israel has shown time and again that it does not recognize the rights of palestinians in any way whatsoever this is why the bds campaign supports demands for legal diplomatic and economic sanctions against israel until it abides by the principles of international law and human rights it is possible to support the bds campaign in our daily life by boycotting certain brands that we tend to consume here are some examples coca cola mcdonalds l oréal nestlé starbucks home depot sources boycott israel international http boycottisraelinternational.com boycott divestment sanctions «the non-violent response to israeli apartheid and occupation http www.bigcampaign.org global bds movement http www.bdsmovement.net pilger john for israel a reckoning newstatesman 14 http www.newstatesman.com/international-politics/2010/01/pilger-israelpalestinian-gaza warschawski michel carnets fneeq faire plus pour la palestine novembre 2007 12 carnets 22 ­ spring 2010

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the world education forum in palestine october 2010 micheline thibodeau fneeq vice president world social forums are occasions for democratic non-partisan non-denominational debates exchanges of experiences and more in-depth thinking participants include labour and social groups and ngos that share a common opposition to neo-liberalism the world domination of capital and all other forms of imperialism their purpose is to strengthen national and international ties among various groups that share the same values namely those of the universal declaration of human rights another world is possible ­ a world that is non-violent respectful of participatory democracy founded on solidarity equality among individuals genders and peoples and that condemns all forms of domination and subjection of human beings by others with decentralized events stems from the problems palestinians have travelling around even within their own territory olence as a method of resolving conflicts is part of a pacifist response to israel s occupation of the palestinians territory based on these realities the fneeq and the csn have committed to supporting this ambitious project largely piloted by the teacher creativity center with which we have had on-going ties since 2000 we invite you all to participate in the forum in october 2010 although the programme is not yet finalized there will be a number of conferences and workshops some of them will be on societal issues such as poverty violence discrimination against women justice etc others will address educational topics learning assessment educational strategies motivation etc in the tradition of social forums various workshops will also be offered depending on what participants propose finally there will be many cultural activities the coming months will be used to finalize the organization of the forum if you would like to participate in this event it s already time to let the fneeq know we will send you all the relevant information in the coming weeks why hold a world education forum in palestine to allow palestinian teachers to participate in debates on the fundamental issues in education around the world the forum will take place simultaneously in a few towns in the west bank and the gaza strip the choice of holding a forum in palestine the palestinian education system has had a very rough time of it in recent decades the lack of basic resources curfews starvation wages and isolation have undermined teachers morale to share the thinking and educational experiences of people from all continents groups in education in palestine are working to organize a forum with values corresponding to the society they would like to build responding to the israeli government s violence bombing building the wall sealing off the gaza strip apartheid appropriation of land and water etc by holding a world forum on education focusing on democratic values condemning vi another world is possible ww.teachercc.org/tcc_fr/index.html carnets 22 ­ spring 2010 13

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regroupement privé a union visibility campaign odette lefrançois regroupement privé co-ordination delegate in the spring of 2007 members of unions in the regroupement privé responded to a survey on violence against teachers in the workplace the results revealed that there were a few difficult situations for teachers but that generally speaking manifestations of verbal physical sexual encountered by their members we had to change this if unions were to really play their role so unions in the private regroupement wanted to make their existence and especially their work more visible to their members this is why at the september 2009 meeting of the private schools regroupement we presented a proposal for a visibility campaign using a poster on the one who has been subjected to a form of violence it also involves finding solutions to problems and providing answers to many questions on topics ranging from parental rights to pensions insurance and tenure to mention just a few in short the final version of the poster was presented to the january if you re in the dark for answers and solutions your union is there for you pension tenure violence insurance plans harassment parental leaves work load or psychological violence were actually fairly infrequent members in a few institutions where there were specific issues contacted their union and with the support of their staff rep or the co-ordinator for the regroupement took steps to resolve them unfortunately the general finding of the survey was that the unions were rarely informed of problems basis of members comments at that meeting we added a bookmark to be distributed to teachers in our unions the posters were to be put up in the teachers lounges although the initiative grew out of the survey on violence we didn t want to limit the message solely to this aspect of members lives union work is not limited to accompanying and providing support to some 2010 regroupement meeting and approved by delegates who will see that these visibility materials are used to make members aware of the role that their union can and should play the regroupement privé will monitor the campaign to see whether it really does raise union members awareness i 14 carnets 22 ­ spring 2010

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public finances it s urgent to take action the irony is striking jean trudelle fneeq president the 2008 economic crisis led to a colossal diversion of public money to private companies billions of tax dollars normally destined for basic necessities beginning with public services were hijacked and given to banks and other financial companies to save them from collapsing it was no doubt necessary if only for the thousands of workers whose jobs were saved in the process but the fact that no tangible steps were then taken to regulate speculative financial markets is a real scandal in the opening speech at the fneeq s last convention the executive committee observed that despite the politicians speeches despite sarkozy s outbursts the unthinkable is happening the capitalist system is resuming its usual routine it s going back to business as usual the crisis many not result in any significant structural change any credible measures of additional control any genuine questioning of the sacred principles of profits at all costs but that s not all in québec where public services largely contributed to cushioning the effects of the crisis its chief legacy is a renewed obsession with zero deficits the demonization of debt and consequently restrictive budget policies another vision of things yet it could have been a great opportunity for genuine debate about government revenues but the debate was cut off before it really began thanks to the tenors of rightwing economics who hold sway in the mass media it won t ever happen unless the progressive movement imposes it already québec has lost a large part of the billions it put into recovery infrastructure projects because of the exaggerated profit margins skimmed off by private enterprise and now it s all about austerity it s time to tighten our belts we re told the government doesn t have any money it s getting ready to sell off public services for a pittance ordinary people can hardly be blamed for accepting the standard economic arguments served up day after day as the truth in la presse in the pages of the scab journal de montréal and on various tv shows about the economy there s no shortage of readymade arguments the debt will ruin future generations we have to reduce spending and charge more for public services and no additional taxes the charest government reacted to the csn s economic proposals by trying to avoid them the labour movement isn t calling for a general across-the-board increase in tax rates although this would actually carnets 22 ­ spring 2010 15

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