Former head of blue-collar union won’t run again

Three months after she saw her union placed under trusteeship and herself removed as its president, Chantal Racette says she will not seek another term as head of Montreal’s blue-collar union.

In a statement made public Thursday, Racette writes that “even though being removed from my responsibilities was unjust, I will continue to fight with conviction and honesty as I have always done, and will remain available for any other role the membership democratically provides me, although after recent events, I must say I have no real expectations.”

Racette’s announcement follows a decision on May 30 by the Canadian Union of Public Employees, the blue-collars’ parent union, to place the local under trusteeship and relieve Racette and her executive of their responsibilities.

The trusteeship came two weeks after Marc Ranger, CUPE’s Quebec director, was reportedly cornered and intimidated by several Montreal blue-collar workers outside a union meeting in Quebec City.

In January, Racette survived a no-confidence vote, securing 66 per cent support from the 914 members who cast their ballots.

Racette was elected president of the union in April 2015. She has faced criticisms of how she has handled negotiations with Mayor Denis Coderre and after a Journal de Montréal article revealed she ordered GPS devices to be secretly installed on the cars of members of her executive in November to track their whereabouts.

In addition, Racette and the union were ordered to pay just over $100,000 in fines by Quebec’s Superior Court for calling an illegal strike in December 2015, after the Commission des relations du travail had already issued an injunction against holding a general assembly during work hours.