Making Cents of the Strike

CSU Sets Aside $9K for Strike Fund

NewsColin Harris — Published March 20, 2012

During the Concordia Student Union Council meeting on March 14, councillors voted to allot $9,000 for striking student associations to spend on events and demonstrations against tuition increases. The decision will allow every department with a strike mandate a proportional cut of the funds.

“On Friday we spoke with the different groups that are going to be receiving the funding. They’re required by their GA to find duly elected liaisons to be responsible for making purchases on behalf of the organization,” said CSU VP Finance Jordan Lindsay.

All expense requisitions will be overseen by Lindsay to make sure the money is being spent on strike-related activities.

A ‘floater fund’ also exists to cover striking students whose departments have not adopted a strike mandate, to be managed by the CSU.

With student mobilization often happening at the departmental level, this approach aims to be a more direct way of supporting students against the government’s proposed tuition increases.

“We realized that, for this strike to be as effective as possible, it would be ideal [to fund] the grassroots movements of the strike,” said Lindsay. “It’s hard for them to do things when they’re essentially paying out of pocket, so we’re trying to support them.”

The vast majority, if not all of the allotted cash will come from the CSU’s campaign budget, along with some taken from the office supplies budget line for tape and markers used during the strike.

Costs incurred by the CSU throughout the strike will also come from the campaigns budget, but are separate from the $9,000 reserved for the student associations.

“CSU has made some purchases, but they haven’t really spent a lot of money on campaigns,” said Lindsay. “It’s usually more action-oriented than spending-oriented. […] We still have quite a bit left.