Academic Freedom as a Labour Right: Development, Context, and Implications
June Mills, Mary-Elizabeth Dill, Adriel Weaver
June Mills, Mary-Elizabeth Dill and Adriel Weaver, “Academic Freedom as a Labour Right: Development, Context, and Implications” (2023), Canadian Labour and Employment Law Journal, Vol. 25, No. 1.
In this paper, the authors argue that the legal grounding of academic freedom within the context of post-secondary labour relations has significant advantages relative to statutory and other protections. Faculty associations are empowered to defend academic freedom through negotiation, litigation and collective action, enabling associations to play a large role in determining the meaning and scope of academic freedom as it applies in changing circumstances. Focusing on Quebec’s recent enactment of Bill 32, the authors also consider the risks that may flow from political interference with academic freedom as a labour right.
Lawyers
Mary-Elizabeth Dill, June Mills, Adriel Weaver