About a thousand demonstrators marched through the streets of Montreal on Sunday to mark International Workers’ Day and demand a higher minimum wage and better working conditions.
Posted at 2:58 p.m.
Like every year, the event was organized by the Coalition du 1er May, a group of fifteen unions and organizations.
“The minimum wage is now $14.25 an hour, and the Minister of Labor is looking forward to possibly reaching $15 in 2023. That’s indecent,” the co-spokeswoman said. Coalition Marie-Claude Tremblay. She cited the inflation crisis and the subsequent rise in the cost of living as factors of precariousness, while wages are not keeping up.
In March, the Bank of Canada calculated that the consumer price index reached 6.7%, well above the target range of 1 to 3%.
Traditionally, union members in a labor dispute are at the front of the pack. This time, it was the strikers from Rolls-Royce Canada, affiliated with the Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN), and from the Molson-Coors plant in Longueuil, affiliated with the Teamsters, who led the way.
Québec solidaire MNA Ruba Ghazal was also present at the event, along with a contingent from her party.
The participants had agreed to meet in Cabot Square, in the city center.
This year also marks the fiftieth anniversary of the Common Front of 1972, when the three major labor organizations of the time united to negotiate collective agreements in the public and parapublic sectors.
Last month, the CSN, the Quebec Federation of Labor (FTQ) and the Central Trade Unions of Quebec (CSQ) announced the reformation of the Common Front for the negotiation of the 2023 collective agreements.
This article was produced with the financial support of the Meta Fellowships and The Canadian Press for News.