Sam Reynolds

Members of the McGill University Non-Academic Certified Association (MUNACA), the union representing McGill University’s non-academic workers, went on strike Wednesday after the union and the university’s administration failed to reach an agreement on issues of compensation. Negotiations began in November 2010.

Picketing began at 6 a.m. on Thursday Sept. 1, and continued through the end of the work day on Tuesday. Picket lines have appeared along many campus entrances, including the intersection of McTavish and Sherbrooke as well as at both the Roddick and Milton gates.

The workers group, whose membership comprises 1,700 McGill employees, is calling for changes to McGill’s current proposal on three issues in particular: pensions and benefits, the wage scale, and overtime compensation. With regard to the latter, MUNACA is asking for  a 25 per cent increase in base pay for hours worked on Saturdays and 50 per cent for hours worked on Sundays.

“The core issues are the protections to our benefits and pensions … and premiums (night and weekend),” Kevin Whittaker, the president of MUNACA said. “What we want is what every other university [in Quebec] is offering.”

In response to the group’s claims that its members are compensated unfairly compared to other universities in Quebec, McGill University has asserted that, overall, their offer for compensation is comparable to that of other institutions.

“When you compare workers in one university to those in another, you need to compare the total compensation package,” Morton Mendelson, Deputy Provost (Student Life & Learning) said. “And that includes pay, progression through the ranks, the time of work, length of vacations, pension, and benefits.”

“McGill’s position is that MUNACA workers are currently receiving comparable compensation to other universities in Montreal,” Mendelson said.

Before the strike even began, there were concerns that if MUNACA-member lab technicians were to abandon projects involving lab animals, those animals might have to be put down. While an agreement was reached on Wednesday to define animal care as an essential service, Whittaker claims that the university took too long to reach an understanding.

“We don’t want to have the animals suffer in any way,” he said. “McGill left it to the very last minute, however.”

MUNACA lab technicians will now come to work on an as-needed basis to care for lab animals.

As with any labour disruption at a university, a major concern is how the disturbance will affect academia and research.

The administration has reaffirmed that the university will do everything in its power to allow research and teaching to continue unaffected.

“That’s our commitment—to maintain the core activities of the university,” Mendelson said. “We are going to try our darndest to keep the services that are really important going.”

Contingency plans have been implemented across academic departments, and services have been prioritized. McGill has put together a comprehensive list of ways the strike may impact student services, both currently and in the long-term. This list is available on the main page of the McGill website.

The Students’ Society of McGill University (SSMU) has taken a supportive stance towards the union. In a statement issued to all McGill undergraduates, the SSMU executive wrote: “We believe students should stand in solidarity with MUNACA, both out of respect for MUNACA’s right to strike and their legitimate concerns at the bargaining table and out of gratitude for all the crucial services which MUNACA members provide to students.”

There have also been reports of planned student demonstrations, including a proposal to unshelve library books, which was later called off.

“I’m glad to see that was abandoned,” Mendelson said. “It would hurt [other] students and just because there’s a strike doesn’t mean that the Code of Student Conduct is suspended.”

NDP McGill held a Solidarity March with MUNACA on Tuesday Sept. 6 at 4 p.m.