CUPE 1299, the Syndicat des cols bleus de la Ville de Châteauguay, which representing 122 outside workers, denounces the remarks made by the mayor of Châteauguay at Monday night’s city council meeting that show contempt for the employees and distract from the real bargaining issues.
From the start of the talks, the city has demanded major rollbacks from workers: abolishing the minimum complement for employees and making unlimited use of contracting out. However the city has never shown how these rollbacks would improve services to residents. After months of bargaining that led nowhere, the union launched an information campaign showing examples where contracting out has cost taxpayers more.
This French-language campaign on the ABCs of city management, called “Gestion de la Ville de Châteauguay pour les amateurs,” has a simple goal: it asks the city to put figures on the savings it claims its bargaining demands will bring. The campaign features just a few of many documented cases in recent years, proving that turning to the private sector is more costly for taxpayers. Instead of addressing these concerns, the mayor used the forum of city council to publicly attack his own employees, making claims that feed unfair prejudice against outdoor workers.
“While he tries to discredit his workers, the mayor has still not provided numbers,” said Stéphane Paré, union representative. “He has not presented analyses or otherwise justified the rollbacks his administration is demanding at the bargaining table. Worse yet, he has done exactly what he accuses us of: spreading disinformation. It’s true that outside workers are currently the last group to sign a contract, but the agreement with the firefighters took four years. This is an unacceptable amount of time. It does not demonstrate good faith from the employer.”
The union objects to how the mayor, instead of looking for solutions, stigmatizes the front-line workers who serve citizens every day. His comments are not only inaccurate, they are outright irresponsible because they feed negative stereotypes of municipal employees, which undermines these workers’ well-being in the workplace.
“I’ve seen a lot of labour conflicts in my career, but rarely has a mayor spoken so disgracefully about his own employees in public,” said Patrick Gloutney, president of CUPE Québec. “It’s inappropriate for a municipal administration.”
Despite the sorry state of these relations, the union wrote to the employer today in an attempt to restart talks. The goal is still to reach a negotiated agreement.
The last day of mediation with the Ministère du travail was February 2, 2026. The union has reiterated its willingness to continue bargaining under mediation. The employer, however, has indicated that it does not wish to continue discussing any of the demands and has refused for the mediation to go beyond the 120 days provided for by law.