Workers at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in Montreal launched another surprise strike Friday morning to put pressure on their employer.
The Fédération du commerce, a union affiliated with the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), announced that the 600 workers at the Montreal hotel had decided to walk out the day after a day of strikes in 23 Quebec hotels.
This is not the first time that employees of the Queen Elizabeth have surprised their employer with a strike; a similar pressure tactic was deployed on July 28 with the Marriott Château Champlain and Bonaventure hotels.
In a press release, Michel Valiquette, head of the hotel sector and treasurer of the Commerce Federation, argued that it was time for the employer to “demonstrate seriousness at the negotiating table and promote a rapid resolution of the labour dispute.”
Increases and inflation
He accuses the employer of taking “one step forward, two steps back.”
The workers are asking for a 36% wage increase over four years. Their union argues that they have had increases totaling 8% over the past four years, well below inflation, which exceeded that rate in 2022 alone.
They are also demanding three weeks of vacation from the first year of service, to attract new workers, an employer contribution to the group insurance plan and better supervision of training for the next generation.
The general director of the Greater Montreal Hotel Association, Éric Hamel, maintains that the increases granted “amply cover inflation.”
“It is certain that today, if demand remains at 36% for example in terms of salaries, our hoteliers simply do not have the capacity to pay these salaries,” he said on Thursday, during the strike day.