City hotel workers’ contracts expire

Work disruptions are not planned ‘for now,’ but union says situation getting more tense

Labour trouble could be looming for the local hotel industry, already feeling the effect of endless roadwork and images of street protests televised around the world.

Employees of more than 20 hotels in and around Montreal saw their four-year labour contracts expire last month, and according to an official of the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), negotiations on new deals aren’t exactly on the fast track.

Michel Valiquette, treasurer of the CSN’s Fédération du commerce and a spokesperson for its hotel section, said the climate is growing “more and more tense.”

No work disruptions are foreseen, “for now,” but employers will have to start negotiating “seriously” if they hope to avoid them, he said.

Several union locals already have authorized 24-hour strikes as a pressure tactic.

Some employees have taken to wearing scarves, or not wearing uniforms, to protest against the lagging talks.

Valiquette said the union is seeking three-year contracts with salary increases averaging five per cent a year, a two-per-cent hike in the em- ployer’s pension contribution (to eight per cent of salary from six) and guarantees to protect full-time jobs, shift durations and paid hours.

Membership is worried, he said, by trends such as the option given to customers to waive room cleaning in exchange for a rebate or benefit.

About 5,500 employees at 35 hotels in the province are seeking new contracts. Twenty-two of the hotels are in and around Montreal, Valiquette said.