Three hotels affected by a strike in Quebec City, Sherbrooke, and Montreal

The Bonaventure Hotel in downtown Montreal is affected by a strike by its union members of the Federation of Commerce, affiliated to the CSN, on Thursday Sept. 12. Three hotels in Sherbrooke, Quebec City and Montreal are also affected. Photo taken on Aug. 30, 2024. (Christinne Muschi / The Canadian Press)

Three hotels in Quebec City, Montreal, and Sherbrooke are affected by at least a one-day strike this Thursday.

The Bonaventure Hotel in Montreal, the Pur Hotel in Quebec City, and the Delta Hotel in Sherbrooke are the ones affected this time. In the case of the Pur Hotel in Quebec City, the strike began on Wednesday and will also take place on Friday, lasting three days, according to the CSN.

These strike days are part of coordinated negotiations led by the Federation of Commerce, affiliated with the CSN. Through this type of negotiation, the federation aims to secure an agreement at one hotel and then generalize it to other hotels, even if they are different employers.

So far, however, no agreement has been reached despite these coordinated negotiations having been ongoing for months. In total, about 30 hotels are involved in this negotiation with the Federation of Commerce.

Workers at several hotels had already walked off the job together on the same day, Aug. 8 and 30.

The dispute is centred around wages and group insurance.

Union members are demanding wage increases, arguing that they made sacrifices during the COVID-19 pandemic, when the situation was particularly difficult for hoteliers. They are asking for a 36 per cent raise over four years, with 15 per cent in the first year.

Employers believe that their offers are already reasonable. The Greater Montreal Hotel Association has stated that the offers made by hoteliers "are very attractive" and that employees' working conditions "are already very good." 

-This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 12, 2024.