Blue-collar workers for the City of Laval and their allies staged a noisy demonstration outside City Hall where the municipal council was meeting, to show their support for their negotiating committee, which has been in talks since the spring of 2023. Their employment contract expired in December 2021.
“It’s been too long! We want to concentrate on our real job, which is serving the population of Quebec’s third largest city. To do that, we need a collective agreement, and we’re calling on Laval’s elected officials to ensure that those seated with us at the bargaining table have a proper mandate,” said Alexandre Prégent, CUPE union advisor.
“We need improved, updated working conditions. Four years without a pay raise is unacceptable! Actually, four years without a raise equals a lower-quality of life and, more concretely, a loss of about 18% in purchasing power,” added Louis-Pierre Plourde, president of the Syndicat des cols bleus de la Ville de Laval.
Discussions were not moving quickly enough, so the 830 members voted in favour of pressure tactics that could extend to an unlimited general strike.
“The mayor says he has a very modern vision for his city, but it seems to me that a mayor who thinks big for his city must also think big for his public services, which is why we need a new employment contract as soon as possible,” said Richard Delisle, acting secretary general of CUPE-Quebec.