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You might have skipped this news, as so much is going on. But it's huge (!)-- McGill law profs are unionizing (!!!!!), which is unprecedented in the 200 years of this university's history. Although that piece of information is incomplete: McGill law profs voted to constitute a union, and are currently seeking certification at the Tribunal administratif du travail... with McGill administration opposing it. So far, Provost Manfredi spent almost two full hearing days contesting the certification, on rather shaky grounds, and Dean Leckey is set to contest on the next hearing date, February 14th, 2022. Quite disheartening that it is our student fees $$$$$$ that are most likely covering their opposition.

We sat down for a hour-long conversation with Professor Evan Fox-Decent, interim President of the Association of McGill Professors of Law. Many topics were covered, among which a compelling explanation of the labour procedure our profs are engaged in, what a shift from a servant/master employment relationship to a union would mean for our profs and our faculty, and how a profs union might very well align with students' interest by decentralizing governance.

Compared to 16 other law faculties across the country (all outside of QC), McGill stands out as having the least stringent measures in place to ensure the safety of their student and faculty body. This is not solely as a result of the absence of a mandatory vaccination policy; in fact, there is a spectrum of measures that have been implemented by other Canadian Universities so that students and staff can manage their exposure, and be protected while learning on campus. For example, several universities chose to conduct mandatory vaccination declarations so that they could provide students data with the percentage of school population who are vaccinated. This information has been used to inform subsequent health protocols and transparently inform students of the risks engaged with being on campus. Another measure seen is the use of rapid antigen testing programs for those who are unable or unwilling to be vaccinated. University of Saskatoon, University of Calgary, University of New a Brunswick, Dalhousie, and Western all require rapid tests to be conducted twice weekly, and for the results to be submitted onto a secured portal set up by the university. In UBC and UVic the requirements are of a weekly test.

So why is McGill so bad at handling the pandemic?

We discuss the matter with prof Richard Gold-- you'll hear about the measures that in fact could be implemented, unrepresentative university governance, legal-ish things assessing McGill's credibility when it claims it is Québec's laws that prevents it from doing what must be done, and prof Gold will also beautifully deconstruct (some) anti-vaxxers' comparisons between their situation and segregation.

You'll also hear from Emily Black, a fellow CKUT pal. We dive into what this means for immunocompromised folks like herself to evolve in McGill during this pandemic and what McGill had to say to immunocompromised folks (hint: it is bad). We'll also cover SSMU's demands regarding covid safety on campus, and how they were dodged.