Academic conferences leave McGill due to law professors’ strike

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More than two dozen academic associations have cancelled conferences at McGill University due to an ongoing strike by law professors and, in some cases, the university’s response to pro-Palestinian protests on campus.

The conferences are part of the annual Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences, the largest academic gathering in Canada, which began last week at McGill University and runs until Friday.

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About half of the 58 scientific associations participating in the congress have moved their events entirely to other universities in Montreal or are conducting them entirely online.

Joao Velloso, vice president of the Canadian Law and Society Association and a law professor at the University of Ottawa, said his association decided in May to look for a new location because striking workers were legally barred from entering their workplace and the slow pace of talks made it likely that the strike, which began April 24, would continue.

“Regardless of questions of principle about whether or not to break the picket line, which are undoubtedly important, we had very real concerns that those who were organizing things, attending important meetings, etc., could not be there,” he said in an interview.

He said the congress organizer, the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, had initially demanded compensation from his association for the move of McGill University to the Université du Québec à Montréal.

Velloso said there were also security concerns on the McGill campus after police used tear gas and batons to disperse pro-Palestinian protesters who had occupied a university administration building earlier this month and to disperse protesters outside.

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“I do not encourage any of my members to attend academic events at McGill University when there are safety concerns about police involvement and no plan is in place,” he said, adding that innocent bystanders could easily be caught up in such cases. He cited as an example the bar patrons who were pepper-sprayed by police while sitting on a terrace on St. Denis Street during the 2012 student strike.

The Canadian Society for the Study of Education, which had already begun holding events off campus, said it would no longer hold events at McGill University following the June 6 police operation, while the Canadian Sociological Association moved its conference entirely online. The CSA said more than half of the participants who had registered for its events did not plan to attend in person due to the strike and concerns about the treatment of protesting students.

According to the conference organizers, 29 academic associations have held or are currently holding at least some of their events at McGill University. Among these associations, however, are several that have issued statements in support of the striking professors.

Donna Trembinski, a history professor at St. Francis Xavier University in Nova Scotia, said she attended the conference to lead a panel on a prize-winning book by a younger colleague, but she was torn about the decision.

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Trembinski said she would have declined if she had given a talk of her own. Among the factors considered when a professor applies for tenure are presentations and scholarly engagement at conferences. A rejection for a younger scientist who has already received funding could be career-damaging.

Jeffrey Sachs, a professor of political science at Acadia University, said boycotting the conference was a difficult but the only right decision.

McGill is one of the few major universities in Canada that is not unionized, he said, adding that the university administration could end the strike through good faith negotiations.

“They deserve all the basic protections and freedoms that scientists have elsewhere. And the senior administrators have, in my opinion, treated this union so poorly that it is the duty of the rest of the Canadian academy to support them,” he said.

The Canadian Association of University Professors has asked tenured professors to avoid the conference, but acknowledges that it may be more difficult for younger members to stay away.

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The striking professors want the university regulations to be anchored in a collective agreement so that they cannot be changed unilaterally by the administration. They are also demanding more transparency in the awarding of performance-related salary increases and more say for professors in decision-making processes, says Kirsten Anker, vice president of the Association of Law Professors at McGill University.

The university has met with the strikers once since the strike and does not plan to meet with them again until the end of August, she said.

In an emailed statement, the Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences said it had offered associations the opportunity to move their events to its virtual platform and that it had “not intervened in the associations’ decision to move the in-person events of their conference.”

“Each Congress year takes place in a unique contemporary context, and for the 2024 Congress, that includes the ongoing strike by the McGill University Association of Professors of Law,” said Karine Morin, president and CEO of the association. “It is especially at times like these that it is critical to come together, highlight the important conversations within our disciplines and demonstrate their impact, and Congress is the best forum to do that.”

More than 8,600 people were registered to participate in person or online.

McGill did not respond to a request for comment Tuesday morning.

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