Union members at three hotels on the Island of Montreal now have 120-hour strike mandates. This mobilization comes in the middle of a rather positive, but not exceptional, summer season, according to hoteliers.
Employees at the Embassy Suites in Pointe-Claire and the Bonaventure Hotel joined those at the Queen Elizabeth on Wednesday and Thursday, who had voted for such a mandate last week, according to the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN). These mandates were obtained as part of coordinated negotiations involving 30 hotels in four regions of Quebec.
“We bring together 3,500 workers and 30 unions. We have common demands, to which are added local demands. This increases the balance of power,” explained Michel Valiquette, treasurer and head of the hotel sector at the Fédération du commerce (FC-CSN), on the sidelines of a union barbecue organized in front of the Hyatt Place hotel in downtown Montreal.
The strike mandates that will be proposed in the 30 establishments are intended to accelerate negotiations by putting more pressure on employers. Financial demands have not yet been discussed at the tables. “It will be triggered at the appropriate time. We will not hesitate to take advantage of it,” stipulated Mr. Valiquette.
Since the end of June, guests at the affected hotels have been greeted several days a week by employees wearing, instead of their usual uniform, a green union t-shirt saying “Our recovery is now”. Sandrine Gauvin, a receptionist at the Hyatt, believes that customers are showing them sympathy.
The workers are demanding a 36 percent wage increase over four years, including a 15 percent increase in the first year. “The wage increase is important because the cost of living has gone up a lot,” said Angie Panagiotakopoulos, a reservations clerk at the Hyatt and president of the hotel’s union. “With rents going up, people don’t have much left over for their remaining expenses.”
Between 2020 and 2024, union members had managed to obtain an 8% wage increase, while the consumer price index increased by approximately 20% in Quebec over the same period. Mr. Valiquette believes that their financial demands would allow workers to make up for this gap and enrich themselves.
“The indicators are green in hotels. Occupancy rates, rates, conventions held in Quebec, the arrival of international tourists, it’s all on the rise. Those who make the reputation of a city and a hotel are the workers on the ground. They deserve to have this wealth shared with them,” said Mr. Valiquette, highlighting the atypical work schedules as well as the oppressive heat in hotel kitchens and laundry rooms.
‘Unfounded’ requests, say hoteliers
Hoteliers consider the demands unrealistic. “Revenues for 2024 are down compared to 2023,” Xavier Cléroux Charbonneau, director of operations at the Bonaventure Hotel, said by email. “There is a lot of pressure coming from the increase in our operating costs. Like all businesses, costs are skyrocketing, which limits our ability to pay.”
Hotel occupancy rates have not returned to the record levels of 2019, which were then averaging 73.1%, reports Éric Hamel, interim CEO of the Greater Montreal Hotel Association (GHHA). His organization predicts an average rate of 68% in the region for 2024, slightly below the 69.6% rate in 2023.
“The economic situation means that some people, because of their tighter budget, are not going to hotels. Business customers are also traveling less,” explained Mr. Hamel.
According to data from the Quebec Hotel Association, the average daily rate for a hotel room has increased from $174 in 2019 to $217 in 2023 in the province. That’s an increase of about 25%. Their forecast in May was that the rate would reach $226 in 2024 and $232 in 2025.
Mr. Hamel assures that his members’ revenue increases do not exceed their cost increases. In this context, the unions’ wage demands are “difficult to justify,” he believes. “We have just gone through a pandemic during which the sector was hit hard. We have not returned to a situation that allows us to be so generous. We already have very good working conditions. We are not in an industry that needs to catch up,” he says.
According to AHGH data, a room attendant could earn between $18 and $28 per hour in 2023 depending on the hotel where they work, while the hourly wage for a front desk attendant was between $20 and $35.