In the middle of a busy summer day, about 250 unionized employees at the Fairmont The Queen Elizabeth hotel in downtown Montreal are scheduled to walk out on a 24-hour strike. The walkout was called Monday at noon by the executive of the hotel’s union, which is affiliated with the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN).
“It’s practically full today,” said Michel Valiquette, treasurer of the Fédération du commerce (FC-CSN). “There will be some management staff left, but it will be difficult to provide services of such good quality.”
On July 3, the 600 union members had given themselves a 120-hour strike mandate to be launched at the appropriate time. The executive announced at the last minute that it would use it on Monday, in order to preserve the element of surprise towards the employer.
Employees at two other hotels, the Embassy Suites in Pointe-Claire and the Bonaventure Hotel, also have such mandates. More than five other unions will hold strike votes this week. They come as part of coordinated negotiations involving 30 hotels in Quebec.
According to Mr. Valiquette, negotiations are going relatively well at the various tables, but not at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel. “It is one of the only ones where the employer has arrived with requests for reductions in working conditions,” he lamented.
Mr. Valiquette says hotel management wants to impose split hours throughout the hotel. “Ten years ago, you worked for the rushfor example four hours in the morning, then you left for several hours and came back in the afternoon for another four hours. We eliminated that from our agreements several years ago,” explained the treasurer.
The employer is also demanding a reduction in the proportion of employees who can take their vacations during the peak summer season and the number of days off for the union executive, according to Mr. Valiquette. He also reportedly requested the signing of a 10-year collective agreement, while the union wants a duration of four years.
“Labour relations at the Queen Elizabeth have been extremely difficult since June 2022,” said François Houle, vice-president of the Syndicat des travailleurs et travailleurs de l’Hôtel Reine Élizabeth–CSN, in a press release. More than 400 unresolved grievances are piling up, Mr. Valiquette stressed.