{"id":3797,"date":"2024-09-30T08:00:00","date_gmt":"2024-09-30T12:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fqppu.org\/?p=3797"},"modified":"2024-10-22T13:16:38","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T17:16:38","slug":"mcgill-wants-to-work-with-its-professors-it-should-first-stop-attacking-them","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fqppu.org\/en\/mcgill-wants-to-work-with-its-professors-it-should-first-stop-attacking-them\/","title":{"rendered":"McGill Wants to Work with Its Professors? It Should First Stop Attacking Them"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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McGill Law professors have been on strike since August 26th. Their core demand is simple: recognize their union\u2019s right to exist. In contrast to every other university in Quebec, McGill is seeking to deny its faculty\u2019s right to collective bargaining.<\/strong><\/h5>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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As faculty association presidents, we remind McGill that unions are precious allies in the pursuit of universities\u2019 fundamental mission: to create and disseminate knowledge in the public interest. When the voices of stakeholders are heard, severe institutional crises can be averted. Conversely, such crises are more likely in the absence of guardrails to curb abuses arising from the concentration of power and to prevent private interests from steering the university away from the common good. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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[Les crises les plus graves] are more likely in the absence of guardrails to curb abuses arising from the concentration of power.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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In our work as union representatives, we have all witnessed external pressures brought to bear on professors. Performance contracts, excellence chairs, private partnerships, innovation strategies\u2014none of these ideas are bad in and of themselves. Still, they must be scrutinized rather than imposed as dogma in our institutions. Who plays the role of watchdog? Generally, not university administrations, who often leap at opportunities to promote them. Instead, it is professors\u2014through their faculty associations\u2014who guard against institutional transformations that risk compromising the balance between research and teaching, as well as between fundamental and applied research. <\/p>\n

McGill Must Recognize AMPL<\/strong><\/h5>\n

The Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL) was founded in 2022 after the first successful faculty unionization drive at McGill since its founding in 1821. From the outset, McGill has sought to prevent its certification by engaging in protracted and costly litigation. Though the Tribunal administratif du travail (the \u201cTAT,\u201d Quebec\u2019s labour court) ruled against all of McGill\u2019s arguments, the administration is undeterred in its campaign to thwart its professors\u2019 aspirations to speak with one voice. It is contesting AMPL\u2019s certification before the Superior Court and has repeatedly violated our colleagues\u2019 labour rights. Indeed, the TAT recently ruled that McGill appears to be engaging in unfair labour practices and ordered the university to respect the Labour Code and cease interfering in union affairs.<\/p>\n

Even under these circumstances, AMPL members did not take their decision to go back out on strike lightly. Before taking this step, the union was willing to make significant concessions. McGill\u2019s response to the latest proposals is telling. Though the union seeks a collective agreement\u2014believing that dialogue is the best way forward\u2014McGill has sought arbitration. This would allow McGill to avoid negotiating with its professors and add further delay, buying the administration time to pursue its strategy of litigating AMPL out of existence. In response, the union twice offered to call off the strike and proceed with arbitration on the condition that the university abandon its legal proceedings and recognize its professors\u2019 right to bargain collectively. The administration refused. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Despite McGill\u2019s prestige, its administration\u2019s actions have put it in the last rank in labour relations matters.<\/strong><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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Despite McGill\u2019s prestige, its administration\u2019s actions have put it in the last rank in labour relations matters. Such contempt for its professors and their right to collective bargaining is unbefitting and incompatible with the ideal of collegiality on which the university is predicated. Collaboration and collegiality are not just buzzwords for annual reports. These principles must be continually practiced at every level of university governance and entail recognizing and respecting professors\u2019 fundamental right to associate. <\/p>\n

All unions and associations that are members of the F\u00e9d\u00e9ration qu\u00e9b\u00e9coise des professeures et professeurs d\u2019universit\u00e9 are, in turn, calling on the McGill administration to see reason. McGill must\u2014at the very least!\u2014live up to the standards of other Quebec universities regarding labour relations. AMPL wishes to contribute to the university\u2019s mission fully. The administration must stop working against its professors and start working with them. <\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t

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  • Madeleine Pastinelli, president of the FQPPU<\/li>\n
  • Ciprian Alecsandru, President, CUFA (Concordia University)<\/li>\n
  • Tikou Belem, President, SPUQAT (Universit\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec en Abitibi-T\u00e9miscamingue)<\/li>\n
  • Jayson Crook, President, APBU (Bishop\u2019s University)<\/li>\n
  • Gregory De Crescenzo, President, APEP (Polytechnique Montr\u00e9al)<\/li>\n
  • Sonia El Euch, President, SPPUQTR (Universit\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec \u00e0 Trois-Rivi\u00e8res)<\/li>\n
  • Bernard Gagnon, President, SPPUQAR (Universit\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec \u00e0 Rimouski)<\/li>\n
  • Anne-Ren\u00e9e Gravel, President, SPPTU (Universit\u00e9 T\u00c9LUQ)<\/li>\n
  • Gilles Imbeau, President, SPPUQAC (Universit\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec \u00e0 Chicoutimi)<\/li>\n
  • Fasal Kanout\u00e9, President, SGPPUM (Universit\u00e9 de Montr\u00e9al)<\/li>\n
  • Alejandro Lorite, Interim President, SPUQ (UQAM)<\/li>\n
  • Helen Luu, President, CMCFA (Royal Military College Saint-Jean)<\/li>\n
  • Julie Myre-Bisaillon, President, SPPUS (Universit\u00e9 de Sherbrooke)<\/li>\n
  • Martin X. No\u00ebl, Vice-President of University Affairs (Universit\u00e9 du Qu\u00e9bec en Outaouais)<\/li>\n
  • Marie-H\u00e9l\u00e8ne Parizeau, President, SPUL (Universit\u00e9 Laval)<\/li>\n
  • Marie-Soleil Tremblay, President, APPENAP (\u00c9cole nationale de l\u2019administration publique)<\/li>\n
  • Cathy Vaillancourt, President, SPINRS (Institut national de recherche scientifique)<\/li>\n
  • Elijah Van Houten, President, AIPSA (Universit\u00e9 de Sherbrooke \u2013 Engineering)<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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