MONTRÉAL, March 1, 2012 /CNW/ - The Dawson Student Union has received notice that the Dawson College administration has been attempting to influence the outcome of today's Special General Assembly vote for a student strike. Emails forwarded to the Dawson Student Union's attention highlight the administration offering advice and council to representatives from the committee against the strike. A petition calling for the cancellation of the Special General Assembly has also been traced back to College administrators.
"The behaviour of Dawson College administrators is highly unethical, and potentially illegal" said Audrey Deveault, chair of the Dawson Student Union, "CEGEP students can make decisions on their own. They do not need administrators interfering in the democratic process."
Line Beauchamp, the Minister of Education, Leisure and Sports, has come under heavy criticism in recent weeks while her office has encouraged administrators to stop strike votes and instructed teachers to break student picket lines.
"What is happening at Dawson is not an isolated incident" said Leonard Leprince, director of External Affairs at the DSU. "The Ministry is afraid of the student strike. Administrators should respect the democratic will of students and join us in defending barrier-free access to higher education."
Dawson College's administration has a long history of disrespecting the democratic will of students. In 2005, they refused to recognise a student vote on accreditation. They withheld funds from the independent Dawson Student Union. The DSU was forced to sue Dawson College into recognising their autonomy. "
We have had to bring Dawson College to court before. We had hoped those days were over," said Deveault, "but if they continue to subvert our democratic process we'll have no choice but to take legal action and defend students' right to organise".
The DSU represents all 10,500 Dawson College students in Westmount, Québec.
To set up interviews, or to find out more please contact:
Fran/Eng: Mathieu Perron 514.743.6329
exec_director@mydsu.ca
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