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    Vol.59/No.24           June 19, 1995 
 
 
20,000 In Quebec Rally Against Poverty  

BY KATY LEROUGETEL AND GRANT HARGRAVE

QUEBEC CITY - Some 20,000 people from throughout the province of Quebec demonstrated June 4 against government social policies in front of the National Assembly building here. The protest was the culmination of the Women's March Against Poverty, which saw hundreds of women walk from Montreal, Longueil, and Riviere-du-Loup to the provincial capital over 10 days. Government statistics show that Quebec leads the country in the number of people living in poverty.

Participants who walked the entire trip were joined by others who marched for shorter periods of time. There was daily media coverage of the protesters as they made their way to Quebec City.

The march centered on nine demands, including an immediate Can$2-per-hour (US$1=Can$0.72) increase in the minimum wage to Can$8.15, a new law for wage equality, the creation of 1,500 new public housing units per year, automatic paycheck deduction of alimony, a freeze on tuition fees, and a reduction in the time immigrant women are dependent on their sponsors from 10 years to 3.

The feeder marches, which began hundreds of miles from the provincial capital, and the Quebec City demonstration were initiated by the Quebec Women's Federation. A broad coalition of organizations that included many women's groups and the three main union federations in the province built the actions.

About 20 Filipina members of Standing Tall, a group of women employed as home-care workers, took part in the demonstration. Many hospital workers also joined the protest.

Day-care workers, who are in an ongoing struggle for a decent wage, were involved in the march preparations from the beginning. Marielle, a member of the Daycare Workers Union from the Quebec City region said, "families cannot live on a single salary" anymore.

A bus brought women from the South Asian Women's Community Center in Montreal, which assists new immigrants, particularly women, coming into Canada. Sadega, a member of the group, said women would be hit particularly hard by the government proposed hospital closings. Women "will have to take care of the elderly and the sick," she said.

A group from Muslim Women of Montreal also participated in the demonstration. "We have the same problems as other women," Zounkha said. "But we have an extra problem because we wear a scarf, so some employers are not ready to hire us even if we are as qualified as someone else."

Muslim women in Quebec have come under pressure here not to wear a headscarf in school. "How I dress is my choice," Zounkha said.

"I'm here for the question of the minimum wage," explained Jean-Guy Beaudin, "it really is too low." Beaudin, who marched with his family, works at a youth center near Montreal and is a member of the Confederation of National Trade Unions. His son works for minimum wage in a restaurant. It was Beaudin's first demonstration in Quebec City and he was left "disappointed by the response of the government. But maybe this will be the start of a wave" of protest, he said.

Many well-known performers and public figures greeted the crowd, as well as numerous government ministers. When Louise Harel, Quebec's employment minister, announced an October 1 raise in the minimum wage from Can$6 an hour to Can$6.45, the crowd booed.

Quebec premier Jacques Parizeau took the mike to argue that a greater wage hike would endanger jobs. Many demonstrators booed him. The government announced several other measures in response to the marchers' demands.

Grant Hargrave is a member of United Steelworkers of America Local 7599 and Katy LeRougetel is a member of the Amalgamated Clothing and Textile Workers Union, both in Montreal.

 
 
 
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