Nine thousand white collar workers in the Montreal area are staging a one-day strike on Tuesday which has led to the temporary suspension of some city services.
Courthouses were not in session due to the strike Tuesday and city pools and libraries were also forced to stay shut, as was the 3-1-1 phone information line.
Employees in Montreal, Dorval, Kirkland, TMR and Westmount walked off the job at midnight in a strike scheduled to last 24 hours,.
The Labour Relations Board has determined that essential services can be maintained and so is permitting the strike.
Municipal workers are opposed to the pension reforms being dictated by Bill 3, which will force them to contribute more to their pension plans.
"We're telling them that what they're doing is immoral, illegal and unfair," said Marc Ranger, Spokesperson for the Coalition for Free Negotiations at a press scrum outside of city hall Monday morning.
“For us it’s an important day, it’s another great mobilization against Bill 3. We know that the legislation will be adopted this week but for us it’s the beginning of a new type of battle. We’ll go to the court to challenge this bill and we are confident that we’ll win but it will take four or five years and it’ll cost a lot of money to citizens for the bad decisions of this government,” said Ranger.
Ranger spoke alongside the leader of Montreal's white collar union (SFMM) who expressed frustration with a stipulation that no negotiations will take place until the provincial legislation is passed.
"We're going to put pressure and not let them go on like this," said Alain Fugere, President of Montreal's White Collar Employees Union.
