Onward to the social strike!
Perspectives on the November 29 Protest and Beyond
“Winter will be hot, because the CAQ has declared war on [labour and community groups]*,” announced the authors of an open letter published in Le Devoir on November 22.
Having received over 800 endorsements—including nearly 200 from groups and organizations—the letter calls for a united front against the CAQ, which is currently waging an offensive not only against what remains of Quebec's social safety net, but also against the capacity of community and union organizations to mobilize, as well as against marginalized community such as migrants, Muslims, and trans people.
Its publication takes place in the run-up to the national demonstration on November 29, which many see as the kickoff of a prolonged social movement. This inter-union mobilization, supported by community and activist organizations, has the potential to bring together a broad spectrum of progressive forces and make visible the extent of opposition to the CAQ's destructive regime.
However, whatever the turn out on November 29, we can expect that parts of the media, the political class, and even union leaders will consider this effort a failure. Those who are quick to announce the death of the left will be tempted to discredit the potential of a strong social movement in the months ahead.
This is precisely why it's important to emphasize that this mobilization is neither the starting point nor the end of the ongoing struggle. Rather, it is one moment in a longer process of convergence among forces that have been pushing back against a CAQ regime visibly cracking at the seams.
The CAQ offensive
With its poll numbers collapsing and its majority at risk, the Legault government has embarked on what looks like a deliberate campaign of sabotage, if not outright revenge,through a series of bills and measures aimed at undermining what remains of Quebec's social protections.
Bill 97, “aimed primarily at modernizing the forestry regime,” introduced by Minister Maïté Blanchette Vézina—before she slammed the door like other CAQ ministers. The bill sought to overhaul the forestry regime for the benefit of industry by restricting Indigenous sovereignty and, more generally, by making opposition to forestry operations nearly impossible across roughly one-third of Quebec’s forests.
This drive to limit avenues for contestation has become a hallmark of recent CAQ initiatives. Fortunately, a sustained mobilization by Indigenous groups—supported by environmental organizations and citizens—defeated the bill. The road blockades organized by Indigenous land defenders within the Mamo alliance were particularly decisive.
Bill 1, the so-called Quebec Constitutional Act, pushes this authoritarian turn further still. It proposes introducing a “collective right of the Quebec nation” that judges would be required to consider in Charter-related decisions. The most alarming element, however, is the bill’s explicit effort to restrict the ability of organizations to challenge provincial laws on the basis of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Le projet de loi 1, ou Loi constitutionnelle du Québec a été déposé le 9 octobre dernier par le ministre de la Justice et ministre responsable des Relations canadiennes Simon Jolin-Barrette.
Il vient affaiblir considérablement un des principaux contre-pouvoirs du système législatif de la Belle Province, soit la capacité des groupes minoritaires et marginalisés à invoquer la Charte des droits et libertés pour se défendre contre les abus des gouvernements, selon Louis-Philippe Lampron, professeur de droit à l’Université Laval.
« Ce que [le gouvernement] veut, c’est de saper la capacité des institutions judiciaires – parce que ce sont les seules qui ont cette capacité actuellement – de déclarer des lois inapplicables parce qu’elles contreviennent aux droits et libertés protégés par la Charte québécoise », prévient-il.– Francis Hébert-Bernier (Pivot, October 25 2025)
Another bill widely denounced by unions is Bill 14 (formerly Bill 89), which would restrict the right to strike by expanding the government’s capacity to impose return-to-work legislation in the name of “public welfare”—a deliberately vague and easily weaponized notion. This anti-union measure is reinforced by Bill 3, which targets the financing of the labour movement and its capacity to engage in political work or support struggles beyond narrow labour relations. The goal is clear: to depoliticize and weaken unions, which, despite decades of declining militancy, remain among the last effective counterpowers in Quebec.
These attacks come alongside a steady stream of additional measures. Bill 2 reforms the health-care funding system and has already led to the closure of social clinics such as Agora. Community organizations have faced frozen subsidies, announced without warning by Minister France-Élaine Duranceau. Changes to the method for calculating allowable rent increases will exacerbate the housing crisis. The government has proposed banning street prayers; introduced anti-trans measures in schools, including the policing of gender-neutral bathrooms; rolled back the rights of trans prisoners; and imposed new barriers and freezes on immigration processes.
The list is not exhaustive. But the pattern is undeniable: in its final stretch, the CAQ appears determined to leave behind a scorched social landscape—one in which any future government will find it easier to continue, if not intensify, Quebec’s authoritarian drift.
What Response From Progressive Forces?
In recent months, collective resistance has grown sharper and more frequent. On November 7, nearly 30,000 students went on strike to denounce austerity and authoritarian abuses in education. STM workers launched a weeks-long general strike demanding better working conditions and proper funding for public transit.
Since the summer, Indigenous land defenders and their allies have mounted repeated blockades and demonstrations to contest forestry reform and assert their territorial sovereignty.
On November 23, the newly formed Popular Anti-Fascist Front organized a demonstration against the far right that brought together numerous community and labour groups.
The solidarity movement with Palestine also remains strong—mobilizing in the streets and in campuses despite escalating repression, particularly at Concordia University, where the administration appears to have abandoned any semblance of internal democracy.
Meanwhile, migrant justice, environmental, feminist, queer, and trans organizations continue their own fronts of struggle.
After years in which the province seemed mired in apathy—its combative traditions muted—everything now points to a reawakening of the social body. Progressive forces are proliferating and taking shape across a multitude of groups and organizational forms.
Néanmoins, parce qu’elles demeurent éparpillées et isolées, ces forces sont mal équipées pour affronter la gravité du moment qui se construit devant nous, sur fond de montée du fascisme à l’échelle mondiale. Il nous faut, aujourd’hui, faire front commun et converger pour opposer à la classe dirigeante un mouvement social fort et déterminé. À cet égard, il est encourageant de voir les syndicats offrir une piste de convergence. À nous de s’en saisir.
The November 29 demonstration will hopefully allow these different movements to meet, converge, and express their outrage together. But another date offers an even more compelling horizon.
Towards a social strike on May 1!
A call is beginning to circulate within union ranks: the proposal to organize a social strike for International Workers’ Day on May 1.
What is a social strike?
A social strike is a work stoppage and cessation of activities on the largest possible scale. Its purpose is to oppose government decisions that run counter to the interests of the majority of the population.
It is therefore a strike movement that brings together social groups from different sectors (unions, student associations, community groups , women's groups, etc.). A social strike is different from a traditional union strike in that it has common demands with a broader social scope than winning a better collective agreement, and it brings together several sectors of society.A single day of action will not be enough to win. But establishing a clear horizon allows us to coordinate our forces, articulate shared goals, and prepare to confront the CAQ’s offensive collectively.
In the months leading to May, it will be essential to invest in the emerging convergences—starting with the student strike called by CRUES for March 23–27.
If May 1 is to play the pivotal role we hope for, it must crown months of organizing and mobilization by the province’s progressive forces. This is all the more important given that nothing guarantees the major union leaderships will not back down—as they did in 2004—or attempt to dilute the movement for lack of political courage.
The opportunity is before us. Our task now is to shape our interventions within this emerging movement.
Together, let’s turn the tide and confront the wave of authoritarianism and austerity—whether it comes from the CAQ or any other party!