Last week, the Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL) vowed to suspend its ongoing strike if the university agreed to end a judicial challenge it had launched against the professors’ union certification, which had been obtained in late 2022.
The memorandum of understanding (MoU) means a permanent end to the teachers’ strike, according to an Oct. 7 news release from the AMPL. The MoU also ends McGill’s certification challenges against two other faculty unions — one for professors of education and the other for professors of art.
But talks between AMPL and McGill do not end here. The two are now in arbitration to negotiate a collective agreement — the law professors’ first as a collective bargaining unit. Mediation sessions were to begin Oct. 8.
The MoU also establishes a uniformity between AMPL and the other two faculty unions in that it “contemplates that the three unions will establish a confederation through which to negotiate common issues at the University” — a “federated structure” the AMPL had been pushing for as part of ending the strike.
“The unions have yet to fully work out the details of the confederation but have agreed to an overall structure that facilitates joint decision-making,” states the release. “Any additional McGill faculty unions will be invited to join the confederation.”
The MoU, it notes, “represents a new governance structure that gives voice to unionized faculty, working within a confederated structure.”
After the signing of the MoU, a joint statement was issued by McGill Provost Chris Manfredi, the AMPL and the other two faculty associations. The parties called the signing “a new path forward for negotiating university-wide working conditions” for the unionized law professors.
“This agreement resolves an important issue between the three associations and McGill and assures that AMPL professors will not go back on strike,” says the joint statement, which was sent to Law360 Canada by a university spokesperson. “Last week, AMPL had suspended its strike pending negotiations towards a federated bargaining process between the parties. For McGill law students, this agreement confirms that this semester’s classes taught by AMPL professors will continue and be completed on time.”
With the ending of the strike, McGill’s law students were reportedly set to begin classes Oct. 3.
The joint statement, which was distributed to McGill students, faculty and law school staff, notes that the “process towards completion of McGill and AMPL’s first collective bargaining agreement continues before the government-appointed arbitrator.”
In a separate statement, AMPL president Evan Fox-Decent said the MoU opens doors for the AMPL and the university when it comes to negotiating “critical issues” during the hammering out of a collective agreement.
“We now have a common understanding and path forward to not only address those issues but to ensure that McGill thrives as a community,” states Fox-Decent.
Contentious labour talks had been going on in fits and starts between AMPL and McGill since November 2022, when the professors were certified as a bargaining unit.
Among other things, AMPL members wanted better compensation, more research support and a “greater voice” in “faculty governance.”
But back in April, the law professors, having no agreement within sight, began warning of a strike. The AMPL also accused McGill of bad-faith negotiating, which the university denied.
At the time, around 45 were set to walk off the job.
In late April, the professors hit the picket lines in what they described as an “unlimited” strike of “indefinite duration.”
Meanwhile, McGill had launched its legal challenges against the AMPL and the other two faculty associations.
If you have any information, story ideas or news tips for Law360 Canada, please contact Terry Davidson at t.davidson@lexisnexis.ca or 905-415-5899.