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

MONTREAL — 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 (AMPL) released a joint statement announcing “a new path forward” for negotiating working conditions for professors across McGill.

“The agreement represents a major victory for McGill’s professors,” said Madeleine Pastinelli, president of the Fédération québécoise des professeures et professeurs d’université (FQPPU). “Of course, this resolution comes very late, following a costly and unnecessary battle by the university to prevent unionization. This anti-union stance led to a strike that was as long and difficult as it was apparently necessary to bring McGill’s administration to reason. Regardless, this proves that no university can disregard its professors’ fundamental right to collective bargaining.”

The union has agreed to negotiate collective agreements jointly with two other nascent unions in the faculties of arts and education – the Association of McGill Professors of Education (AMPE) and the Association of McGill Professors of the Faculty of Arts (AMPFA) – 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.

“At last, we can turn our attention to the association’s primary mission: guaranteeing collegial and transparent governance within our faculty,” said Evan Decent-Fox, president of the AMPL. “All of this, naturally, while continuing our unwavering defense of the university’s mission and the conditions required for its full realization.”

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.

Negotiations will begin under arbitrator Jean Allard, who was appointed by Quebec’s Labour Minister to complete the collective agreement. 

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.

The Canadian Press