McGill law professors stage walk out during first week of classes

A union representing McGill University law professors said its members walked off the job Monday, the first week of classes for the fall semester, over what it described as the school's anti-union tactics and refusal to negotiate in good faith. 

Law professor Kirsten Anker says the Association of McGill Professors of Law wants to secure its first collective agreement and stop the university from challenging its right to exist. The union was certified in November 2022 by the province's labour tribunal, but that certification is being contested by the university.

"We're basically saying, we just want to exist as a union," she said Monday in an interview.

The union launched a temporary strike earlier this year during grading period in order to avoid disrupting classes, but that failed to put enough pressure on McGill, Anker said.

"That is why we have decided we had no choice but to block the start of semester," she said. "And that's a serious disruption for McGill, there's a risk that some students won't pay their fees. So we are hoping that this time, this will be enough pressure for them to take us seriously."

Anker, the union's vice-president, says the professors' main demands are around salaries and a desire for more input in the governance of the faculty. The strike launched on Monday is unlimited, she added.

McGill said in an email that it was notified of the strike Sunday night, days after the province's labour minister named an arbitrator in the case. The school sought arbitration in June, according to court documents, after deeming the conciliation process to be unsuccessful.

The union has challenged the arbitration order in court, but failed earlier this month to obtain a stay until a hearing is held. Anker said that on Friday, the union agreed to arbitration on the pay issue as long as the school commits to signing a collective agreement on the other matters. But she says the university still refuses to meet.

"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," McGill said in a statement.

Anker and the union, however, say the school is applying for arbitration as a delay tactic until a judicial review of the union's certification is held in December. 

"It seems hard to avoid that McGill's overall strategy is to squash us as a union and to make it look very unappealing and difficult to all the other unions that are coming up in other faculties," Anker said.

Anker says union members have walked off the job on two previous occasions, but this is the first strike that has the potential to disrupt classes for a prolonged period. She says first-year law students were scheduled to begin Monday with a welcome session, with teaching classes supposed to start Wednesday.

"We met our first few students this morning and we really want to assure them that this is not where we want to be," Anker said. "We'd rather be in classes with them, doing what we love and doing what we do best."

The union includes all full-time faculty members, who will not be teaching during the strike. Anker said some law classes are taught by sessional instructors, who are not covered by the walkout, but the union has asked them not to cross picket lines.

Julien Berubé, the vice-president external for the McGill law students association, said he's very disappointed students are being impacted by the strike — especially those in first year who should be meeting friends and teachers for the first time this week.

"If it goes on for too long it puts our whole semester in jeopardy, so we really want this to be kept at the shortest possible amount of time," he said. 

Berubé said he feels students are being "pretty much kept in the dark" by the administration, which he said isn't providing many strike updates or letting students know at what point their semester might be at risk.

He said he supports the right of teachers to strike, but feels the walkout could have been avoided by McGill allowing the union to be formed and by both sides making more of an effort to negotiate. 

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Aug. 26, 2024.