(Montreal) 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 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.
Michel Valiquette, head of the hotel sector and treasurer of the Trade Federation, claims to sense “a lack of seriousness on the part of the employer in wanting to negotiate.”
“Already, more than a dozen meetings have taken place in the presence of a conciliator, and we take one step forward, and then we take two steps back,” he said in an interview. He specified that the negotiation meetings began last April.
Mr. Valiquette indicated that the union is taking advantage of the summer period, the high season, to get its message across.
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.