The Association of McGill Professors of Law has accused the university, which is trying to get the union’s accreditation cancelled, of refusing to negotiate in good faith by delaying the process and not showing up at negotiation sessions.Ryan Remiorz/The Canadian Press
McGill law professors, who have been trying to negotiate their first collective agreement with the university for almost two years, are set to go on strike again Monday ahead of the start of the academic year.
The union, the Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL), which was certified in November, 2022, held a two-month strike this spring. The professors are seeking better pay and more involvement in the faculty’s governance.
The AMPL has accused the university, which is trying to get the union’s accreditation cancelled, of refusing to negotiate in good faith by delaying the process and not showing up at negotiation sessions.
Kirsten Anker, an associate professor and vice-president of the AMPL, said in an interview that the university left the union no other choice but to go back on strike. She said 43 AMPL members will participate in the labour action.
“We’re extremely worried about the impact on students,” Dr. Anker said. “But, at the same time, we saw that a strike in April, May and June, when we avoided interrupting a semester, made very little impact on McGill,” she said.
First-year law students had an orientation day planned for Monday, while others were scheduled to start classes Wednesday.
In a news release announcing the strike, the AMPL said it has sufficient funds to remain on strike for the entire academic year.
Julien Bérubé, vice-president, external, of the McGill Law Students’ Association (LSA), said the labour dispute had already taken a heavy toll on students. The effect of delayed grades because of the earlier strike included being unable to apply for or renew loans and scholarships, being overlooked for jobs and, for international students, issues around their immigration status.
Mr. Bérubé said it has been difficult for the LSA to prepare for the possibility of another strike. “We are pretty much kept in the dark,” he said in an interview. “The administration doesn’t look like it has a plan. We have asked repeatedly about what would happen, and we haven’t had any real answers.”
The AMPL says on its website that salaries for law professors at McGill trail far behind those of comparable institutions, such as the University of Toronto and the University of British Columbia. Full professors earned, on average, more than $300,000 in 2023-24 at the University of Toronto, compared with less than $200,000 at McGill.
At the same time, pay for administrators increased much faster, the AMPL says. The salary for the law faculty’s dean increased by 65 per cent between 2017 and 2022, while pay for professors increased by 7 per cent over the same period.
The union is seeking better compensation to catch up with other top law faculties, adjusted for the local cost of living, and pay increases above inflation. It also seeks a say in the selection of the faculty’s dean and the creation of committees that look at merit pay and research, among other governance issues.
The AMPL and McGill held more than 20 negotiation sessions up to last June, most of them with a conciliation officer. In July, Quebec’s Minister of Labour, Jean Boulet, referred the dispute to arbitration. The union opposed the arbitration and asked the Superior Court to suspend it, which the court declined to do in an Aug. 16 judgment. Hearings for McGill’s request to cancel the union’s accreditation are scheduled for December.
In an unsigned e-mail Wednesday, McGill said it “has been acting in good faith throughout” the process, but that “it does not consider that further conciliation meetings would lead to resolution.” The university said Thursday that the Minister of Labour appointed an arbitrator, lawyer Jean Allard.
“We look forward to working with Maître Allard to resolve outstanding issues with AMPL and focusing on minimizing any impacts of the dispute on students,” McGill said. The university did not answer questions about sticking points in the negotiations or why it seeks to cancel the union’s accreditation.
Dr. Anker said the union still hopes to settle and avoid prolonging the dispute. “We’re just asking them to come to the table,” Dr. Anker said of McGill. “In fact, if we see that they come to the table in good faith, that might be enough to lift the strike.”