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At St. Jude Elementary School in Deux-Montagnes where she works as a Grade 4 teacher, Chantal Kers despairs of growing class sizes, and the effect on students with special needs.

“I feel so discouraged,” Kers said Saturday at the foot of Mount-Royal, where tens of thousands of public-sector workers gathered in a common front demonstration.

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“Our students’ needs are already not being met, and and now the government wants to cut services and continue to increase the class sizes,” Kers said, alluding to what she described as Premier Philippe Couillard’s austerity agenda.

“I believe the public needs to get more involved,” she added. “It’s not just up to the employees.”

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Members of the common front sought to draw attention not only to the government’s austerity measures, but to protest against Treasury Board president Martin Coiteaux’s proposed public-sector wage freeze for the next two years, followed by annual one-per-cent raises until 2019.