Law professors at McGill University suspended Thursday afternoon the indefinite general strike they had been leading for nearly two months to try to force the establishment to sign their first collective agreement, we learned. The duty. However, they do not rule out resuming this means of pressure at the next school year if the upcoming negotiations are not fruitful, a prospect which worries the students concerned.
This decision comes at a time when McGill University recently turned to the Quebec government to request arbitration to end this labor dispute, a request that worries the McGill Professors’ Association s of law (AMPD). By suspending the strike of its members, who are demanding better working conditions and a lighter workload, the union hopes to create a climate conducive to advancing negotiations with the employer, who will meet with them again in mid-August .
“We suspended the strike to show that we are ready to negotiate” and that recourse to an arbitrator is therefore not necessary, summarizes the secretary and chief negotiator of the AMPD, Richard Janda, in an interview with Duty Friday.
The specter of a new strike
The union, however, does not rule out resuming its indefinite general strike at the next academic year, at the end of August, if these negotiations fail. A possibility that the University wishes to avoid by requesting recourse to arbitration to resolve this labor conflict.
“If the strike resumes in the fall and our fall session is in danger, it will be quite serious,” fears the vice-president of external affairs of the Law Students’ Association. McGill, Julien Bérubé. The latter also notes that the last strike of law professors, which was launched on April 24, had had “fairly marked” repercussions. In particular, the students received an incomplete diploma last May that did not include grades recorded for the winter 2024 term, as the striking teachers were unable to correct their students’ exams.
Mr. Bérubé, however, prefers to remain “optimistic” that an agreement will be reached between the union and McGill before the start of the university year, in a little over two months. “Obviously, we are very happy that there is a suspension now [de la grève]. But what we need is for there to be a definitive resolution,” he continues.
A long process
Richard Janda, for his part, fears that the negotiations leading to an end to this labor conflict will drag on if Quebec approves the use of arbitration in this matter. “It sometimes takes two years before we have the results of an arbitration,” he says. However, the University is currently contesting in court the validity of the accreditation obtained in 2022 by the AMPD, which then became the first professors’ union within the establishment. Richard Janda is therefore concerned about the possibility that the University will obtain a judicial review in this matter before this labor dispute is over, which could jeopardize the obtaining of a collective agreement for the law professors who are waiting this one for two years now.
“It is in their interest to prevent the conclusion of a collective agreement,” says Mr. Janda.
McGill University did not respond to Duty Friday concerning the reasons which led it to request recourse to arbitration to put an end to this labor dispute. However, she welcomed the union’s decision to suspend its indefinite general strike.
“The good news was transmitted to the entire Faculty of Law community, and members of the AMPD received an email wishing them a safe return to work and assuring them of our collaboration,” indicates the establishment by email.