Strike affecting busy tourist season
The Old Port of Montreal is usually bustling at this time of year, but a strike has shut down some of its most popular attractions just as the city’s tourist season picks up.
Luh Wong was visiting from Singapore on Tuesday and was surprised to find the doors of the Montreal Science Centre locked. A notice in the window indicated it was closed due to a labour conflict.
“It’s disappointing,” said Wong, who had planned to visit the science centre, then Notre-Dame Basilica in Old Montreal, before continuing his Canadian vacation in Quebec City.
But a strike by nearly 280 federal employees has led to the closure of the science centre, the Clock Tower Beach and Port d’Escale marina. The O’Quai Bistro, which is connected to the science centre building, is also closed.
Wong wasn’t the only tourist disappointed to see attractions in the Old Port closed.
Tom Carr and Julie Gilles from Tucson, Ariz., were also let down when they found the science centre closed. But Gilles, in town for a nursing conference, took it in stride.
“My dad was a meat cutter and he was in the union, so I understand this type of thing,” she said.
The strike is also affecting local businesses that rely on a steady influx of summer tourists to make a profit.
An employee at Croisières AML, which operates river cruises out of the Old Port, estimated business is down about 10 per cent since the strike was called last month.
Patrick Marhone, who works in the cruise line’s ticket booth, said the tourist season kicks into high gear this weekend with the Grand Prix. If the Old Port strike continues for another month, he worries local businesses will suffer even more.
Although some Old Montreal merchants say they have not yet experienced any adverse effects from the labour conflict, Lina Assaf, who operates Café Revazy on de la Commune St. across from the Old Port, said her customers don’t want to sit on the terrasse when protesters are marching along the street.
“Every day (the protesters) pass by here and (make) a lot of noise,” Assaf said. “The tourists, for example, they say (they) have a headache from what is happening here . ... It’s a very big problem.”
Assaf said the strike is hurting Montreal’s image as a touristfriendly city.
“It’s not good for the city of Montreal, for the tourists, for everyone,” she said. “I’m really upset with what has happened.”
Assaf ’s café has been operating at its present location for seven years. The last time her business suffered was during the noisy Maple Spring student protests of 2012.
“Every year we have a different problem,” Assaf said with a laugh.
A spokesperson for the Old Port of Montreal Corporation, which is owned and operated by Canada Lands Company, said the two sides are squabbling over money.
“It’s mainly salaries,” said Jimmy Laforge. “We put a good offer on the table. It’s 9.5 per cent over four years.”
The Syndicat des employés du Vieux-Port de Montréal is asking for entry-level wages to be increased from $10.67 an hour to $15.