Think of an essential city service and it’s likely a blue collar city worker is the one who’s doing it: snow removal, garbage collection, road and park maintenance. But for 24 hours, between February 4th and 5th, the more than 4,800 Montreal blue collar workers stopped doing that work. It was their first strike day in over 15 years, which could lead to an escalation of tactics, as negotiations have been frozen since the end of 2024.
As with many contract negotiations since the inflation crisis in Canada, the impasse remains on pay. The city of Montreal is staying firm on an offer of 11% over five years, an amount barely enough to cover inflation in “normal” times. In the wake of the cost of living increases in the past years, it would mean, according to the union, signing on to impoverishment.
The North Star spoke with Jean-Pierre Lauzon, president of the Syndicat des cols bleus regroupés de Montréal, on what he describes as the city’s failure to recognize the work of its workers with offers deemed unacceptable.
“We find it inconceivable that the City, with all these blue-collar workers, the 4,800 blue-collar workers, is taking this as if it were nothing. There is no respect. We are here day, evening, night, outside. During the pandemic, we were here, no one talked about us.”
“I don’t think they understand that we will never accept 11%. It would impoverish our blue-collar workers. There are blue-collar workers who have two jobs, three jobs. And we have lost 7% of our purchasing power since 2022. So it’s inconceivable. We need at least wage catch-up, and raises.”
Asked if the city had given an explanation for such a low offer, Lauzon said there was none, and that the city could only refer to a nebulous “financial framework”.
“That’s their financial framework. They’re not able to give us any figures. They’re not able to explain why their financial framework is structured the way it is. They make ‘comparables,’ but they’re not able to give us their comparables.”
It will be important to see how the potential for escalatory actions taken by the union is responded to by the provincial government. The government has recently adopted the Act to better consider the needs of the population in the event of a strike or lockout, which gives it expanded power to intervene in labour conflicts (even in non-essential sectors) under the guise of “protecting the population”. Already during this 24-hour strike, certain blue collar services remained in place, such as the salting of the roads.
Lauzon also expressed outrage at Bill 3, recently proposed by Minister of Labour Jean Boulet, which has prompted strong reactions from the labour movement in Quebec.
“Well done, Mr. Boulet. He’s taking away the right to negotiate. That’s our only power to make ourselves heard—to go on strike, to demonstrate. He’s coming after us to help the bosses.” And with Bill 3, “what we’re seeing is that bosses want to control our budgets to prevent us from mobilizing.”
But for now, the main task for the union remains building a strong mobilization to show their power in the negotiations and stop the decline in living standards of blue collar workers in Montreal.
“We make Christmas baskets every year, and more and more we’re giving them to our own coworkers.”
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