British Columbia Federation of Labour

Vancouver, BC – The BC Federation of Labour’s Officers have thrown their support behind the Canadian Federation of Students National Day of Action, Federation President Jim Sinclair announced today.

“Post-secondary education and training are the keys to our economy and to a young person’s place in today’s job market,” said Sinclair.  “After ten years of cuts to post-secondary funding, massive tuition fee increases and cuts to student grants, young people are worse off and so is our economy.”

Sinclair said that BC’s tuition fee problem and lack of a good student grants program are just two of the reasons that working and middle class families have fallen behind in the last ten years.  “More and more families are struggling to make ends meet and record high tuition fees are making it much harder.”

“Tuition fees are more than $6,000 per year in some programs,” said Sinclair.  “You’d have to work full-time for four months at $10 an hour to earn just enough to pay your tuition fees, with no money left for books, rent, or food.”

“We say to young people that they can’t get a good job without education, but then we make it so expensive that they can’t pay for their education without a good job,” said Sinclair.  “That’s wrong, and it’s why students across Canada are going to stand up for accessible post-secondary education on February 1 and the labour movement supports them”.

The Canadian Federation of Students National Day of Action will be held in cities across Canada on February 1, 2012.  For information on events in your area, visit cfs-fcee.ca