The FQPPU affirms support for union drive by McGill's largest faculty

MONTRÉAL, April 8, 2024 /CNW/ - Following in the footsteps of their colleagues in the faculties of Law and Education, the professors of McGill University's Faculty of Arts have formed their own union, the Association of McGill Professors of the Faculty of Arts (AMPFA). The official announcement, which was made last week on the steps of the historic McCall-MacBain Arts Building, seals the intention of the 378 tenure-stream professors and faculty lecturers of McGill's largest faculty to be represented by a union. The Fédération québécoise des professeures et professeurs d'université (FQPPU) expresses its full and enthusiastic support for the professors, whose unionization once again highlights the resolve of McGill professors to fight for their collective rights to more fulsome participation in governance that is collegial, transparent, and fair.

"We invite the administration not to reproduce the same scenario to which we have unfortunately become accustomed: the legal challenge to the fundamental right to collective bargaining," declares Madeleine Pastinelli, president of the FQPPU. "McGill's administration has seen for itself that this is a losing strategy, both in terms of labour relations and for the university's image." The FQPPU therefore invites McGill to take note of their professors' aspirations and to recognize the legitimacy of their efforts, without undue delay or litigation.

AMPFA follows the example of two existing faculty unions at McGill University, namely the Association of McGill Professors of Law (AMPL) and the Association of McGill Professors of Education (AMPE). "When professors across Quebec unionized in the 1970s, that movement never made it past the Roddick Gates," said AMPFA Interim President Catherine Leclerc, Associate Professor in the Département de langue et littérature françaises. "But now, that's changing. Today, AMPFA is correcting an historical anomaly, as Arts professors join our colleagues across Quebec and Canada in unionizing."

As a reminder, McGill engaged in a long and costly legal battle to prevent the accreditation of the AMPL. The Tribunal administratif du travail rejected the University's arguments and certified the union in 2022. The AMPE, for its part, is currently before the same tribunal, as McGill has once again chosen to challenge its professors' right to collective bargaining.

Since 1991, the FQPPU has been the consultation and representation body for Quebec university faculty.

www.fqppu.org

SOURCE Fédération québécoise des professeures et professeurs d'université (FQPPU)

Émile Bordeleau-Pitre, conseiller aux communications, 514-692-3643, [email protected]