The 600 employees of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in downtown Montreal have been on strike since Monday noon and will continue until Tuesday noon to advance negotiations for the renewal of the collective agreement.
The workers are members of a union of the Fédération du commerce, affiliated with the CSN. The organization emphasized that this is the first walkout to occur in the context of the new round of coordinated negotiations in the hotel industry, which this year includes 30 hotels in several regions. The union affiliated with the CSN has a 120-hour strike mandate to exercise at the appropriate time.
The vice-president of the Syndicat des travailleurs et travailleurs de l’Hôtel Reine-Élizabeth-CSN, François Houle, said that labour relations at the Reine-Élizabeth have been “extremely difficult” since June 2022. He maintained that management approached the negotiation “with numerous requests for retreats” regarding working conditions.
We have no choice but to carry out this day of strike action today. Let us hope that our employer will take us more seriously and that it will agree to withdraw its demands for a setback, because our objective remains to reach a satisfactory agreement as soon as possible.
François Houle, vice-president of the Queen Elizabeth Hotel Workers’ Union, in a press release.
The principle sought by the Trade Federation through this coordinated negotiation is to obtain an initial agreement with an employer and then attempt to reproduce it with other employers. The unions concerned thus coordinate their negotiation and keep each other informed.
Common demands of the coordinated negotiation include wage increases of 36% over four years to compensate for the loss of purchasing power linked to inflation, an increase in the employer’s contribution to the group insurance plan and the elimination of the use of placement agencies.
It is also about curbing work overload to better protect staff, ensuring that employees decide among themselves how to share tips and reviewing access to and remuneration for annual holidays.