The City of Montreal and the Union of Montreal’s blue-collar workers (Syndicat des Cols bleus regroupés de Montréal), CUPE Local 301, are proud to announce that a comprehensive agreement in principle has been reached in regard to the pension plan and the renewal of the collective agreement, due to expire on December 31. This unprecedented agreement can be characterized as “historic” in several respects.
“With this agreement in principle, the leaders of the blue-collar union and our administration are showing all of Quebec that it is preferable to choose negotiation rather than confrontation. I am very proud of the work accomplished by the two negotiating teams and I congratulate them,” said Michael Applebaum.
The Senior Director of the Human Capital and Communications Service, Jean Yves Hinse, also welcomed this important agreement.
“The settlement of the pension plan and the renewal of the collective agreement, reached through negotiation several months before its expiry, is a positive turning point in our working relationship with this group of employees. In addition, the terms of this agreement will show the way for other agreements with different City of Montreal employee groups,” said Applebaum. NOTE: The Gazette attributes this last sentence to Applebaum, but this release seems to attribute it to Hinse.
In addition, the President of the Montreal blue-collar union, Michel Parent, noted: “It is common knowledge that there are difficulties in financing pension plans. We did not expect solutions to be imposed on us or just fall from the sky. The Union took a responsible approach. We made commitments and we are delivering the goods today. It is now up to our members to vote on a comprehensive settlement that includes not only the pension plan but, for the first time, the renewal of the collective agreement before it expires.” The Union informed the representatives of the City of Montreal that this agreement will be submitted to its members for approval in the very near future.
Neither the City of Montreal nor the Union will comment on the content of this tentative agreement before it is submitted for approval to their respective decision-making bodies.