McGill law professors launch unlimited strike as classes resume – Montreal [Video]

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 professor Kirsten Anker says the Association of McGill Professors of Law wants to secure its first collective agreement and stop the university from challenging its right to exist. The union was certified in November 2022 by the province’s labour tribunal, but that certification is being contested by the university.

“We’re basically saying, we just want to exist as a union,” she said Monday in an interview.

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.

“That is why we have decided we had no choice but to block the start of semester,” she said. …