The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) and the City of Montreal came to an agreement this past Wednesday, August 9, that avoids laying off auxiliary security officers.

Under this agreement, the 46 officers responsible for security at municipal buildings will have the option to be reassigned to auxiliary labourer positions with the City of Montreal. Their seniority will be maintained during the process of reassigning them to another municipal department in the city centre or one of the boroughs.

The security officers will remain on duty until the private security service chosen by the city is in place.

The agreement also stipulates that the position of driver of the mayor of Montreal will continue to be filled by a unionized blue-collar worker.

“This is a satisfactory agreement for the workers, as it allows these blue-collar employees to maintain the employer-employee relationship and their seniority,” stated CUPE Local 301 trustee Denis Régimbald. “They also won’t lose any pay.”

Reassignment of the security officers is set to take place gradually starting this fall.

With more than 115,000 members, CUPE-Quebec represents approximately 70 per cent of all municipal employees in Quebec, or 32,240 members. CUPE is also active across a broad range of sectors, including health and social services, communications, education, universities, energy, government corporations and public agencies, air transportation, public transit, the mixed sector and the maritime sector.