McGill agrees to drop legal challenge of law faculty union, ending strike

McGill University law professors strike outside the law faculty in Montreal, Monday, Aug. 26, 2024. (The Canadian Press/Christinne Muschi)

McGill University has agreed to drop a legal challenge of its law faculty's right to unionize, bringing an official end to a strike during which law professors walked off the job for more than five weeks this fall.

The university and the Association of McGill Professors of Law released a joint statement announcing "a new path forward" for negotiating working conditions for professors across McGill.

The union has agreed to negotiate collective agreements jointly with two other nascent unions in the faculties of arts and education, which had been one of the university's main demands.

In exchange, McGill will end its judicial review of the law faculty's union certification, and will stop challenging the certification of the other two unions.

Law professors suspended their strike and returned to classrooms last week, but had threatened to walk out again if a deal with the university was not reached.

The law faculty union was certified in November 2022 by Quebec's labour tribunal, but has yet to secure its first collective agreement.

-This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 7, 2024.