A page turned on Wednesday afternoon at the Syndicat des cols bleus regroupés de Montréal (Local 301). The bronze statue of former President Jean Lapierre, installed nearly twenty years ago in front of the union building on Avenue Papineau, has been removed.
The union made this gesture to demonstrate that it embodied a “renewed movement” in a desire to “redefine the public image” of the union. “The story of 301 is not the story of a single man, but the story of thousands of City of Montreal employees who stood up for better working conditions,” commented the president. of the union, Luc Bisson, by press release.
Installed in 2003 in front of the union building to pay homage to the former union leader, the Stalinist-looking bust showed Jean Lapierre, fist in the air.
“We are going to take the time to reflect collectively on how to dispose of the statue. We can’t erase history, but we can talk about it differently,” said Mr. Bisson.
Jean Lapierre had chaired the Montreal blue-collar union from 1985 to 2003 and his reign had been particularly eventful, marked by numerous episodes of confrontations with the administrations of Jean Doré and Pierre Bourque.
During difficult negotiations with the administration of Jean Doré in 1993, union members stormed the town hall by breaking down the doors with battering rams. Jean Lapierre had received a six-month prison sentence and spent thirty days behind bars following this act of vandalism. Relations between the union and Pierre Bourque were also tumultuous.
Jean Lapierre retired in 2003, but later became an advisor to his successor as union president, Michel Parent.
To see in video