Westmount’s blue collar workers launched a one-week strike Thursday morning, their third such strike since December.
About 100 workers from Westmount and the City of Montreal’s blue collar union gathered outside Westmount’s city hall on Sherbrooke Street all morning, holding pickets and encouraging drivers to honk their horns in solidarity with their cause.
The city’s 125 blue collar workers haven’t had a contract since 2019. They say current negotiations with the city are at a standstill.
“Right now why we are striking is the salary. We are asking for a fair wage,” said Guillaume Dupont, a spokesperson for the Blue Collar Workers Union Local 301. “They will be poorer if we sign what’s on the table right now. So we are asking for a better offer from Mayor (Christina) Smith.”
The one-week strike will affect a wide range of city services. One of the most noticeable and regrettable for the city during the heat wave: it pushed back the opening of the public swimming pool start date by two weeks.
“It’s incredibly unfortunate for residents, but it’s also really unfortunate for the lifeguards who have a 10-week summer job and they just lost two weeks of that,” said Westmount Mayor Christina Smith.
Garbage, recycling and compost collection won’t be impacted by the strike because they are taken care of by an outside party. But other service interruptions and maintenance lapses include the city’s tennis courts, parks, sports fields and streets. Collection of bulky items was moved from the week of June 5-9 to the week of June 12-16.
Smith says the city has been very fair with its offers to the union. She says the city treasures the valuable work its blue collar workers perform, and she encourages them to ensure they have seen for themselves the deal the city has offered.
“I encourage our employees to see the deal, ask what the offer looks like in comparison to other cities on the island of Montreal, to understand the family work life balance offers are there,” Smith said. “We want this deal to be settled. We believe in the work our employees do. We want them to come back to the table.”
The city and the union go back to the bargaining table June 9th for a day of negotiations. The union has warned if it doesn’t reach an agreement soon, it could launch a general strike.
What happens with Westmount’s negotiations is being closely observed by other cities on the island, who also have to sign new agreements with their workers.