Sam Reynolds

The MUNACA strike has entered its second week with newly restarted negotiations remaining at a standstill, despite Quebec’s appointment of a conciliator. Meanwhile, SSMU has steadily supported MUNACA.

On Friday afternoon, McGill announced that a conciliator was appointed to bring the McGill’s administration and the striking workers together. Professor Morton Mendelson, Deputy Provost (Student Life and Learning), expressed his hopes.

“We would like to see a quick, negotiated settlement to the strike. A meeting of MUNACA and the University with a conciliator is a good step in this direction,” Mendelson said in an email to the Tribune.

Workers on the picket line also seemed to welcome the new rounds of talks.

“We’re hopeful,” said one picketer, who declined to be identified.

As of Tuesday, however, MUNACA workers remain on picket lines and neither side had budged.

MUNACA workers spelled out exactly what they hope to achieve through the strike.

“The key issues are pension protection and wage increases,” said a striker on the picket line, who declined to give her name.

Strikers also maintain that the university should be willing concede in negotiations and that the onus was on McGill’s administration to help move talks forward.

“[The talks] could end any minute, it’s really up to McGill to decide when they are done,” another anonymous MUNACA striker said.

One thing that strikers do seem to be happy about, however, is the amount of support they have been receiving from students and from SSMU.

“We’re so appreciative. The more [students] we get, the better,” added the anonymous striker.

“We had a meeting a couple of days ago … with one of the representatives from SSMU. One of the people from SSMU came and explained that they were going to do a protest with students. [Students] gathered around here and then they went to a meeting,” said another nameless striker.

The workers interviewed added that they thought that having students’ support makes their case to the university stronger.

SSMU is obligated to support MUNACA in accordance with a resolution passed in 2006 by the SSMU General Assembly.

Conservative McGill disapproves of this resolution.

“The McGill University Conservative Association is concerned about the endorsement of the MUNACA strikers provided by the SSMU executive. While the Association will not comment on the issues at stake in the strike, it is our view that it is entirely inappropriate for SSMU to endorse one party in the dispute on behalf of the student body,” Brendan Steven, a representative for Conservative McGill said.

“To do so is unrepresentative of the opinions of the student body at large, and divisive. The SSMU executive enjoys no clear mandate from the student body by whom they were elected to make such an endorsement.”

Joël Pedneault, VP External Affairs of SSMU, acknowledged that some students disagree with SSMU’s position on the strike, but noted that there was little SSMU could do to change its policy.

“What I’m hoping for is that people who disagree with the SSMU policy as it is now can come to the General Assembly and make amendments from the floor … to those students I would say ‘Well, show up! It’s your job to come to the General Assembly,” Pedneault said.

All 10 students interviewed voiced support for striking workers and SSMU’s position, though some tempered their support with caution.

Colin Lairche, a U1 Science Student, had this to say: “SSMU is supposed to be here to respect the students … If they went with something more radical or more disruptive to the students, I might have an issue with it, but as it stands, I’m not too concerned.”