There has been a long debate at McGill over whether we should have a union for all academic staff. A special ad hoc committee was formed by MAUT in 1994 to investigate the pros and cons of becoming a union (certification), resulting in a report that was published in 1995, concluding:
“As a result of the examination of the pros and cons of certification, the Committee finds that certification is advantageous and desirable.
The possibility of an impending across-the-board cut of 20% in McGill’s budget, and the fact that Academic Staff at McGill are now one of the last groups of employees not unionized or in the progress of certifying, underscores the timeliness of having M.A.U.T. consider certification. In this context, the Committee concludes that it would be appropriate and useful for the M.A.U.T. Executive to inform the general membership of the Committee’s finding. Further we recommend a broad-based consultation process to determine the wishes of the general membership regarding certification.”
Several years later, the financial situation at McGill had improved and two announcements were made in the MAUT newsletter from Feb. 1999. First, that McGill academics would receive additional benefits to reach salaries that are competitive with other major Canadian universities (then, the G10), and second, that there would be a special information meeting to discuss unionization.
Following that meeting, perspectives were published in two special newsletters that were released in Mar. 1999 (special edition (1) and special edition (2)), including views for and against unionization of academic staff. In those newsletters it is explained that there was a referendum held on unionization in 1979 and that MAUT Council voted to hold another vote on the topic in 1999. The 1999 vote on pursuing an academic union was defeated (25.8% yes, 74.2% no) based on a 60% turnout.
As highlighted in the recent (2025) MAUT ad hoc committee report on salaries and benefits, the promises of reaching salary parity with other major Canadian universities were never realized. McGill’s median academic salary is currently the 5th lowest among U15 universities. Although much time has passed since the documents linked above were written, many of the issues discussed in them remain relevant today.