(Montreal) Union members at the Granby Zoo have just given themselves a ten-day strike mandate to be exercised at the appropriate time.
The mandate could be divided into half-days, isolated days or consecutive days, said the president of the Central Council of National Trade Unions of Estrie, Denis Beaudin, on Thursday. No date has yet been set.
They are about 130 workers, members of a union of the Fédération du commerce, affiliated with the CSN. They are office staff, animal care technicians, mechanics, naturalist interpreters, carpenters and others.
Mr. Beaudin says that the negotiations are “progressing at a snail’s pace” after 14 sessions, four of which were in conciliation. He maintains that barely 10% of the normative clauses have been settled and that the parties have not yet addressed the salary issue.
To this, the employer responded that to its “great dismay, the availability is not necessarily there on the union side” to accelerate the pace of negotiations. “I would like things to move forward at a better pace,” replied Paul Gosselin, president and CEO.
Among the issues in dispute are seasonal employment status and access to positions based on seniority, the union reports.
Mr. Gosselin says that if the union were to exercise its strike mandate, “certain managers will ensure the well-being of the animals,” will take care of feeding them, taking them out. So, “it will continue as planned” in the various establishments and the animals “would remain visible” to customers, he assures.
The union also claims that animals would not suffer from a possible walkout. “Rest assured that despite the pressure tactics, despite the strike mandate, the employees’ priority remains and will always remain the well-being of the animals and that no animal will lack care or suffer from it,” assured Mr. Beaudin of the union.
The collective agreement expired in December 2023.
Negotiations have not broken off; further meetings are planned for July, both sides said.