Outside workers with the City of Laval have announced that they will be going on strike for one week from March 6 to 12. The parties began talks in the spring of 2023, and their contract expired in December 2021. A Tribunal administratif du travail ruling on essential services to be maintained is expected shortly.
“Outside workers in Laval have shown day after day that your safety is our priority! They showed up and worked tirelessly following the recent historic snowstorm. We’re there for the citizens of Laval, and it’s now the city’s turn to come through for its employees. Our working conditions must be improved and updated, because going four years without a wage hike is unacceptable,” explained Louis-Pierre Plourde, president of the union representing Laval’s outside workers.
The outside workers recently rejected an offer from the city, calling for a 19.5% increase over seven years, as the proposal unfortunately did not enable employees to regain the purchasing power they had lost over the past four years.
“The mayor claims to have a very modern vision of his city, but it seems to me that a thoughtful mayor should take public services seriously. It has been proven time and again that in-house expertise is cheaper than going the private sector route. The union was the last party to propose a settlement offer, but we haven’t heard a peep from the employer since then. Sad,” said Plourde.