Montreal had a legal obligation to pay its 1,800 executives the envelope of 6 million planned for their bonuses, even after their abolition, Valérie Plante said on Monday.
The mayor was questioned by the official opposition on the revelations of The Press regarding the new working conditions negotiated for municipal executives in the metropolis. These provide that municipal executives will benefit from a recurring increase of 3.5% in their salary which represents “the monetary envelope [auparavant] planned for bonuses,” their association rejoiced in an internal press release dated at the end of March. This increase is in addition to a negotiated salary increase of 2.15% for 2024 and 2.5% for 2025.
In December, Valérie Plante and her general manager, Serge Lamontagne, assured that the bonuses granted for the year 2023 would be “the last”. No one had specified that this money would simply be integrated into the executives’ salaries.
“It is the law that requires it”
On Monday, the mayor of Montreal argued that her administration had no choice in transforming the bonuses into salaries.
“It is the law which requires that it be counted differently, but there will no longer be any bonuses year after year,” said Valérie Plante, to the municipal council. “Since the start of our first mandate, we have always demonstrated a great deal of transparency and rigor. »
Valérie Plante was questioned by opposition leader Aref Salem. “Has the Plante administration led Montrealers for a ride? “, he asked.