Following the lead of blue-collar workers, white-collar workers with the Town of Blainville have voted 99% in favour of pressure tactics up to and including an unlimited general strike. The union representing the white-collar workers (CUPE 2229) has a membership of close to 200 employees, including temporary staff.
“The last negotiations we were involved in took four years to produce an agreement. We don’t want this to happen again, so we’ve decided to exert pressure to move talks along,” explained Jean-Francois Millar, President of CUPE 2229.
The white-collar workers with the Town of Blainville have been without a contract since December 2021. Negotiations have been dragging out, especially at a time when these workers have not received a wage increase during this period of historic inflation.
“The members are impatient. We love our town and want to continue contributing to its development, but our counterparts on the other side of the bargaining table must also recognize how important we are and put their shoulder to the wheel to come up with a satisfactory agreement,” said Millar.
Both parties have applied to the Ministry of Labour to appoint a mediator as soon as possible.