McGill University law professors back on strike in Montreal

After promising for more than three months to meet with the Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL), McGill senior administrators withdrew and refused to negotiate with the union, the AMPL says.

The law professors launched an unlimited general strike outside of McGill’s Gelber Law Library in Montreal on Monday.

The union says that their demands could be addressed through a few days of negotiations, but McGill refuses to engage.

According to the law professors, last April, McGill agreed to meet for negotiations on four dates at the end of the summer but at the beginning of this term, the university reneged on these dates.

“We’re on strike for the third time now because McGill has refused to come to the table to bargain with us. But more than that, they are contesting our very right to exist as a union,” said Kirsten Anker, McGill Law professor and AMPL Vice-President. “We went on strike outside of the teaching semester because we didn’t want to disrupt students. We were trying to keep everyone’s interests in mind but clearly that was not enough and it did not make any difference to McGill.”

The AMPL was certified in November 2022 and are the first union of professors at McGill. However, after 18 months, they still remain without a collective agreement.

The union includes all full-time faculty members, who will not be teaching during the strike.

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.

The union says the average number to negotiate across other Canadian universities is 265 days, but the AMPL has reached over 500.

“Striking in the middle of a semester is the only pressure that the union really has that will make any difference,” said Anker.

According to a press release by the AMPL, they allege McGill is actively trying to decertify the AMPL and is fighting two other faculty unions, the Association of McGill Professors of Education, and the Association of McGill Professors of the Faculty of Arts.

“McGill schedules few negotiating sessions, they cancel last minute or shorten meetings with little notice, and they do not prepare their responses before the meetings,” reads the press release. “This means means they show up, and then leave to do the prep work that should’ve been done before the meeting. McGill has repeatedly failed to respond to agree even to clauses that are standard in university collective agreements.”

Some of the union’s demands include better salaries, improved working conditions, minimum core of staff and faculty and more input in the governance of the faculty.

There are approximately 50 professors in the law faculty and 45 in the bargaining unit.

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.

“I didn’t realize that McGill would have these very hard line approaches basically anti-union stances to the whole thing that is very demoralizing. I just want to go back to teaching, I want to go back to my students,” noted Anker.

The AMPL Vice President said that some law classes are taught by sessional instructors, who are not covered by the walkout. The union has asked them not to cross picket lines.

McGill asked for binding arbitration, but the union says it won’t protect faculty interests.

AMPL President Evan Fox-Decent said they don’t want to be on strike.

“This is the first day that first year law students come to the faculty for orientation, to be introduced to the faculty by the dean and usually by us as well. Usually we would be with our students in our moot courtroom, welcoming them to Montreal, welcoming them to McGill’s faculty of law,” explained Fox-Descent. “We made it very clear to McGill that if they did not come back to the table and bargain with us in good faith, on the four days we had agreed to meet for bargaining, at the end of August and early September, that we would resume the strike.”

Students are still required to pay their school fees by Aug. 30.

“Many of us have moved from far away, left our jobs, and signed leases and are now being asked to pay school fees for a term that may not occur,” said incoming law student Kate Pundyk. “It is shocking that McGill would choose not to attend negotiations, despite knowing how much students have invested, both professionally and financially, to be part of this institution.”

McGill is the only university in Quebec where professors are not unionized.

“We are willing and hoping to get to the table with McGill to end this strike and to end this disruption of student and other activities as soon as possible,” concluded Fox-Decent.

In a written statement to CityNews, McGill stated that the AMPL notified the university late Sunday evening about the strike on Monday.

McGill says preliminary information about the strike was posted on the Faculty of Law website, to provide information and answers to students.

“AMPL has elected to initiate an unlimited strike as a new phase is set to begin with the help of an arbitrator, named by the Labour Minister on Aug. 22,” reads the 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.  We will keep you informed of developments as they unfold.”

-With files from the Canadian Press