Dozens of teachers and other faculty members at John Abbott College gathered outside the school Tuesday, calling for better treatment from the administration as the start of the school year approaches.
Tension between teachers and the administration has been building for years, according to Maria Mastorakos, the union president of the John Abbott College Faculty Association.
Teachers boycotted convocation in June to protest the administration and say several communications and governance issues have still not been addressed.
“Teachers’ working conditions are students’ learning conditions. So the more burnt out, tired that people are, the more difficult it is for them to show up in the classroom,” Mastorakos said in an interview at the protest.
Mastorakos said there has been a general culture of disrespect and unfair communication from the administration when teachers ask questions about operations at the college.
The union filed a grievance last year, she said, after a teacher was critical of the administration during a board of governors meeting and later received a reprimand from the administration about his tone.
“It creates a culture of silencing. People are afraid to speak up,” Mastorakos said about the incident.
Maria Mastorakos, union president of the John Abbott College Faculty Association, addresses members during a rally outside the college on Tuesday, Aug. 18, 2026. Tim Snow / Montreal Gazette
Mastorakos and other union members say the administration is making top-down decisions about operations at the college without fairly consulting teaching staff or upholding its agreement with the union.
Last academic year, she says, the administration had the budget to hire additional teaching staff and was supposed to do so according to union rules, but failed to uphold its end of the agreement.
“They were missing 10 full-time teachers that they did not hire according to the contract and have refused to do so to this day,” Mastorakos said.
Each year, two or three teachers are also meant to be released from teaching duties to work for the union, which union adviser and lawyer Selma Skalli says is part of the union agreement. Last school year, she said, only one teacher was released.
She says if the administration wants to reduce the number of teachers on union release, they must offer some sort of compromise or negotiation.
“If there’s no more counterparts, you’ve got to follow the contract. And they refuse to do so,” Skalli said.
In response to the protest, John Abbott College communications officer Philippe Look said the CEGEP is committed to fostering a positive, respectful and supportive environment for all members of its community.
“With respect to some ongoing employee disagreements, the college recognizes the importance of addressing concerns through the established processes outlined in the collective agreements. Grievances are being addressed through the appropriate channels and formal mechanisms that exist to ensure fairness and due process for all parties involved,” Look wrote in a statement on behalf of the CEGEP.
He added the college “takes employee feedback seriously,” noting it regularly surveys employees and uses their input to help inform institutional practices, priorities and decision-making.
“Results from these surveys consistently demonstrate rates above 90 per cent of satisfaction among employees working at John Abbott College,” he wrote.
However, survey results obtained from the union show that some employees describe the work culture at John Abbott as “toxic,” “disrespectful” and “problematic.”
Maria Mastorakos and Bertrand Guibord listen as Yves de Repentigny, vice-president of Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec, addresses the faculty of John Abbott College during a rally on Tuesday. Tim Snow / Montreal Gazette
Many of the tensions would be resolved if the administration stopped its top-down style of governance and instead collaborated with teachers on decisions, said Yves de Repentigny, vice-president of Fédération nationale des enseignantes et des enseignants du Québec.
“You can work together to solve issues for the good of the community, for the good of the students,” de Repentigny said.
“Collegiality. You work on a horizontal basis. That’s what’s lacking here.”
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