McGill University law professors picket for right to unionize, better pay

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

Law professors at McGill University were on the picket line Thursday, forcing the cancellation of classes during the first week of the fall semester in protest of the school's challenge to their right to unionize.

Kirsten Anker, a law professor and the union's vice-president, participated in the demonstration outside the law faculty building on the university's downtown campus. McGill said 67 classes have so far been cancelled, and Anker warned that the unlimited strike involving more than 40 professors will continue until the administration returns to the bargaining table.

She said the Association of McGill Professors of Law is fighting for the right to unionize, better pay and for more say in university governance.

Anker said the union has agreed to let an arbitrator decide salary increases. Professors will return to work, she said, if the university stops trying to decertify the union altogether. McGill is contesting the union's certification in Quebec Superior Court.

“Now it's actually come to something a lot more fundamental because they're challenging our right to exist as a union,” Anker said in an interview, adding that McGill is deliberately dragging out the negotiation process until a Quebec Superior Court hearing in December on the university's challenge.

In the absence of regular classes, professors have organized outdoor teach-ins on labour issues. Anker estimates that a total of 200 students showed up for teach-ins on Monday and Wednesday, with another scheduled for Friday morning outside the law faculty building.

Law professor Richard Janda said Thursday he did not always support joining a union but now serves as its secretary and chief negotiator. He said the two parties are at an impasse.

“As a prof who's been here for over 30 years, it’s devastating to find myself in this situation," he said. "I never imagined that I would be walking a picket line in front of my own faculty."

Janda said McGill’s administration has increasingly centralized decision-making over the years and is preventing teachers from having a say in governance issues, including on who is selected as dean, an approach he says is tarnishing the university’s reputation.

Law student Casey Broughton, 25, is starting her fourth year, but she came to show her support for the union and picket alongside her professors. Broughton says the class cancellations are frustrating, but she is not blaming union members.

“I’m more worried about … the future of my fellow workers, the future of the university, than I am about missing a few classes,” she said, adding that she hopes classes resume soon. “Our learning conditions of students are directly impacted by the working conditions and the contracts of our professors.”

McGill told The Canadian Press on Wednesday that the union notified the university of the strike on Sunday evening. It says an arbitrator was appointed on Aug. 22. "McGill has been acting in good faith throughout the process and looks forward to the conclusion of a fair collective agreement," it said in a statement.

“The university will do everything in its power to minimize impacts on students and we reiterate our respect for our valued colleagues in the faculty of law,” it said.

-This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 29, 2024.