Montreal, QC – The Montreal administration is threatening the industrial peace that once prevailed in the city. Representatives of the 27,000 City of Montreal employees share this opinion.
The 8,000 white collars have been on a rotating strike since Monday and the City management has been attempting disrespectfully to undermine their right to strike. We have never seen anything like it.
“Using a legal fine point, the City of Montreal is trying to undermine the workers’ rights by denying all leaves and sick days during the 37 days of rotating strikes. This is immoral and abhorrent. They are trying to humiliate the workers. But it won’t work. Instead, the people I saw on the picket lines this morning feel even greater solidarity and are more determined than ever,” said Alain Fugère, president of the Montreal white-collar union (SFMM-CUPE 429).
“We have made an emergency request to the Labour Relations Commission (CRT) to rule on the issue of denied leave. We are awaiting their decision.
“We want to negotiate a fair agreement, retain internal expertise and increase our salaries to reflect the cost of living,” said the union president. “We are at a crossroads. It is now up to the City to demonstrate that it wants a fair and equitable agreement.”
Montreal’s blue-collar workers have been without a contract for four years.
With a total of over 110,000 members in Quebec, CUPE represents about 70% of the province’s municipal employees, or 31,600 members. CUPE is also present in the following sectors: health and social services, communications, education, universities, energy, Quebec government corporations and public agencies, urban and air transport, and the mixed sector.
Information: Lisa Djevahirdjian, CUPE Communications Service, 514-831-3815