Students and faculty members grabbed placards and joined MUNACA at the intersection of McGill College and Sherbrooke on Friday morning in what was the largest and loudest rally to date.  The protesters, who occupied half a block of McGill College, chanted and cheered while speakers addressed the crowd from a stage.

MUNACA’s President, Kevin Whittaker, was joined by a representative of the McGill Faculty Labour Action Group (MFLAG), who told MUNACA workers, “You are truly indispensable.”

After a strike mandate from their members, which passed with an overwhelming 88 per cent, MUNACA joined the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), an umbrella labour union, under a service contract and began the strike on Sept. 1.  David Kalant, Vice President of Finance for MUNACA, cites PSAC’s support as indispensable to the strike. “We’ve been, up until recently, a completely independent union and we really thought we didn’t have the strength to make a major push for what we think is fair, even to support a strike if necessary,” he said.

Members of the Mobilization Committee, also known as the ‘Mob Squad,’ an informal organization of students whose mandate is to support mobilization efforts on campus, were also in attendance.

“We’re primarily interested in defending student rights, but that encompasses, in our view, solidarity with workers,” said Niko Block, campaign coordinator for SSMU and member of the Mobilization Committee. “We just want to do enough damage to the McGill name, we want to do enough damage to the McGill brand, that they will start to realize it’s no longer in their interest either [to withhold from MUNACA’s demands].”

Should the strike stretch into the coming months, continued Block, the Mobilization Committee would continue their support of MUNACA through various demonstrations.

Students weren’t the only non-MUNACA members in attendance.  MFLAG, whose members cheered alongside MUNACA staff and students, is made up of approximately 40 faculty members who banded together two weeks ago in an organized effort to show support for the strikers.  “We’re going to show our coworkers that we stand with them and they have a right to a fair and just contract,”  said Derek Nystrom, an Associate Professor in the English Department whose research has been affected by the strike. The McGill administration maintained in an email to the student body that MUNACA’s package is, altogether, similar to that of support staff at other universities in Quebec.

Michelle Hartman, a member of MFLAG and an Associate Professor of Islamic Studies, began the semester by teaching a first-year seminar course off campus in an effort to avoid crossing the MUNACA picket lines, an action that she and the chair of the Islamic Studies department had believed to be acceptable under McGill’s legislation. Her salary was threatened by the administration and as a result she returned to teaching her class on campus.

“The Dean of Arts…said to me directly, that if I was saying that I would not cross a picket line to teach a class, it meant I was not crossing a picket line for any reason, therefore I was not performing my academic duties and I would not be paid,” said Hartman.

Christopher Manfredi, Dean of Arts, responded to Hartman’s case by citing the University Policy on the Non-Performance of Academic Duties During a Legal Strike, which stipulates that Professors must fulfil all of their academic duties during a strike in order to receive their full salaries.

“With respect to teaching, professors cannot work around this rule by moving their courses off campus during a strike,” said Manfredi in an email.  He added that students in classes being taught off campus had been unable to return to campus in time for other classes.

A communiqué was issued to all academic staff this week on behalf of Provost Anthony Masi stating that “the University has an obligation to deliver classes in a location that is least disruptive for students” and that off-campus locations would not be covered under McGill’s insurance policy, increasing the risk for students.

Allegations of scab workers on campus surfaced last week. According to MUNACA President Kevin Whittaker, a report by officials from the Quebec Labour Commission, who are investigating the use of casual employees to replace MUNACA workers, will be released at the end of the week.

“That report has been submitted to the labour board and it should be brought to us by Friday.”