McGill University law professors picket for right to unionize, better pay [Video]

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 …