The union at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel says the employer refused to take back concession demands that would have averted the strike.
Professional golfers competing in the Presidents Cup in Montreal are likely to encounter not only autograph-seeking fans, but also union members waving signs and chanting slogans at their hotel doors.
Employees at the Queen Elizabeth Hotel, the host hotel for the event, went on a seven-day strike Wednesday morning to pressure their employer to move negotiations forward.
“When you want to use pressure tactics, when the arguments at the negotiating table are no longer enough to make the employer listen to reason, the last resort is a strike,” said Michel Valiquette, spokesperson for the CSN’s hotel sector.
An avoidable conflict
“The management of the Queen Elizabeth had the opportunity to avoid this conflict since we were in negotiations last Friday. The union’s proposal was that it would guarantee that there would be no strike during the Presidents Cup weekend on the condition that the employer withdraw its numerous demands for concessions.
“We weren’t even talking about moving forward in terms of negotiations, but simply that the employer withdraw its concession requests, which they didn’t agree to. They didn’t even answer us,” the union representative lamented.
About 30 hotels in the Montreal, Quebec City, Estrie and Saguenay-Lac-Saint-Jean regions are participating in co-ordinated negotiations. Union members at three of them, namely those at the Bonaventure and Double Tree hotels at the Complexe Desjardins in Montreal and the PUR hotel in Quebec City, are on an unlimited general strike, but union members at all the hotels have strike mandates in hand, either to go as far as an unlimited general strike or have banks of strike hours or days to use sporadically.
Domino effect sought
The CSN’s Fédération du commerce hopes that the agreement reached at the Hilton in Laval can serve as a model agreement for other establishments. Its members obtained salary increases of 21 per cent over four years, including 10 per cent in the first year, as well as gains in terms of tip protection, group insurance, training and vacations.
Union members are now hoping that a domino effect can extend to all establishments, Valiquette said.
“The Hilton Hotel union in Laval paved the way for the 29 other unions participating in the c-oordinated round of negotiations. So, now, hoteliers know the size of the settlement, they know where we want to land, and our people are determined to obtain the same conditions as at the Hilton Hotel in Laval.”