The 420 workers at the Molson-Coors plant in Saint-Hubert, on the South Shore, called an indefinite general strike on Friday.
Updated yesterday at 1:55 p.m.
In the morning, about twenty strikers were on the site of the Montreal Distribution Center, rue Dickson, and about 150 in Saint-Hubert.
They denounce in particular an insufficient salary increase proposal and a layoff system that does not take seniority into account. Last Sunday, workers voted 99% against the latest employer offers. “I’ve never seen the world come together like this,” said The Press Stéphane Lacroix, director of communications and public affairs for Teamsters Canada.
Since the merger with Coors in 2005, our working conditions have deteriorated. Decisions have been made out of Milwaukee since the merger with Miller a few years ago, and it’s even worse.
Éric Picotte, president of the Molson division, Teamsters Québec local 1999, at Molson in a press release
The union believes that a strike was necessary: ”The employer has been threatening us with a lockout for months if we don’t accept what he wants,” says Stéphane Lacroix. It doesn’t make good relationships. Negotiations have not progressed. Basically, Molson-Coors was waiting for our requests, saying, “That, yes, and that, no.” They have a way of negotiating like in the 1970s.”
Disappointment with employer
Molson-Coors declined to grant an interview to The Press. “Molson-Coors has a long history of providing well-paying jobs here in Quebec,” the spokesperson wrote in an email. We are offering the 1999 Teamsters Local a more than competitive salary, so it is disappointing that they left before we even made a final offer. As the union has failed to negotiate in good faith, we are turning to our contingency plan as we continue to meet consumer demand. »
Negotiations have been taking place since last fall. The agreement has expired since December 2021. “We want to return to the negotiating table and we hope for a settlement, says Stéphane Lacroix. But a 2% salary increase will not be enough! The pandemic, inflation, the war in Ukraine, there are currently a lot of anxiety-provoking elements that add weight to this situation. The attitude of the employer therefore does not pass. The strike is likely to last a long time. The workers are cursed. It does not create a good climate for negotiations. We feel that there is no receptivity. »
The Teamsters union claims to have a $55 million strike fund. The average salary at the plant is $66,000 per year.
Molson-Coors sales increased 6.5% in 2021, from $9.7 billion in 2020 to $10.3 billion.
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- Consumption
- In 2019-2020, the average Quebecer consumed 24 L of wine and 78 L of beer. The Canadian average is 17 L of wine and 68 L of beer.
Source: Statistics Canada