SAQ employees walk out amid negotiations

Some 5,000 employees with the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ) are striking on Thursday to denounce their employer's wage proposal during ongoing negotiations.

The Syndicat des employés des magasins et de bureaux de la SAQ, affiliated to the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN), confirmed that its members will be on strike on Thursday.

• These are the stores that will remain open during the strike.

The union took to Facebook to ask its members not to cross the picket lines that will be set up.

It currently has a bank of 15 strike days, with two days used in April and this being the third under the mandate.

During the two strike days in April, the SAQ maintained "limited access" to its branches.

The collective agreement for SAQ employees expired on March 31, 2023.

According to the union, the "normative" part of the negotiations was settled last week.

However, the union says it feels "cheated" by the employer's wage offers and financial framework, which were tabled last Wednesday.

The union argues that the financial framework would force employees to accept setbacks on overtime pay and reduce the employer's contribution to health insurance, among other things.

The union said that the employer is proposing a 16.5 percent wage increase over six years, adding that it would have to withdraw its demands and accept the employer's conditions to obtain this increase.

After hearing about the proposal last Friday, the union's executive committee called on its members to be ready to mobilize.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Oct. 17, 2024.