Faculty strike: McGill University threatens to cancel semester for law students

McGill University is threatening to cancel law school classes for the rest of the semester if it can’t reach an agreement Monday with a faculty union that has been on strike since August.

The university says it will drop its legal challenge of the faculty’s right to unionize — a key demand of the Association of McGill Professors of Law — if the union agrees to negotiate working conditions collectively with other employee associations at the school.

McGill’s administration sent an email to law school students Monday morning saying the union must agree to end its strike or the university will cancel courses taught by union members as of Oct. 1.

The university says it’s not plausible that classes could begin two months into the semester and still finish on time.

The McGill Law Students’ Association says the university’s offer is “nothing more than smoke and mirrors,” and says both McGill and the union need to be more flexible.

Quebec’s labour tribunal certified the law professors’ union in November 2022, but the union has yet to secure its first collective agreement.