Canada : Hotel workers across the province to strike today
Hotel workers across the province, including those in Montreal and Quebec City, are planning to walk off the job today.
Their union, the CSN, has been given a three-day strike
Some 10 hotels in Montreal and Quebec City will be affected by the strike. Among the affected hotels are the Bonaventure and Lord Berri in Montreal and the Hilton and Delta hotels in Quebec City.
The union reached a last-minute deal with Montreal's Ritz-Carlton, which will see workers get a 13 per cent pay increase over four years. A similar deal was reached earlier in the week with the Marriott Château Champlain.
Along with salary, the CSN says its main demands are better holiday and severance pay. The demands are justified, they add, because of the recent increase in tourism in Quebec.
"It's not just summer 2016 that was exceptional, there has been growth in the hotel industry for several years," union spokesperson Michel Valiquette told Radio-Canada.
"We're in a period of growth. And the principal drivers of this growth are the workers. So they deserve their fair share in terms of salary and work conditions."
Here is a list of the affected hotels in the province's two largest cities:
Montreal
- Hôtel Gouverneur Place Dupuis
- Hilton Laval
- Quality Suites de Pointe-Claire
- Hôtel Bonaventure
- Holiday Inn Laval
- Hôtel Lord Berri
Quebec City
- Hilton
- Delta
- Hôtel Pur
- Hôtel Classique