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