Major strike to affect hotels in Montreal, Quebec City and Sherbrooke

Staff at hotels across Quebec are turning up the pressure on their employers, going on strike as negotiations appear to stall.

More than 400 employees from two Montreal hotels, the Gouverneur Place Dupuis and the DoubleTree on Jeanne-Mance Street, began a 36-hour strike Thursday.

The union also announced a provincewide strike planned for Aug. 8 that will affect hotels in Montreal, Quebec City and Sherbrooke. Thousands of hotel workers are expected to strike for 24 hours.

In Montreal, nearly 20 hotels will be affected. In the Quebec City area, staff from two hotels are participating. In Sherbrooke, Delta Hotels by Marriott will be affected.

Rosemarie Williams, president of the union for workers at the Comfort Inn in Pointe-Claire, Que., said the strike could seriously inconvenience guests since managers will be left to take over employee tasks — including check-ins and room cleaning.

"We know that the employer cannot take the time to answer phones and do his job at the same time. So that will have a big impact," she said.

Thursday's strike in Montreal is the fourth walkout to occur during negotiations, which include more than 3,500 employees at 30 Quebec hotels, CSN said  in a news release.

The union federation said more than 90 per cent of workers in recent weeks voted in favour of a 120-hour strike mandate "to be exercised at the appropriate time."

"Hoteliers congratulate each other on the record profits they are currently making," said Michel Valiquette, union head of the hotel sector for the Fédération du commerce (FC–CSN), in the news release.

"They are on every platform to say how good summer is for them. But all of a sudden, they no longer have a penny when they show up at the negotiating table."

Earlier this week, nearly 1,000 workers at the Queen Elizabeth, Marriott Château Champlain and Bonaventure hotels in Montreal went on a surprise 24-hour strike Sunday. By Monday afternoon two of the three hotels had locked out striking workers.

Negotiations have been underway since April.

Demands from the union include achieving a 36 per cent wage increase over four years, eliminating the use of employment agencies, reducing workloads and allowing employees to decide how to divide tips among themselves.

Alupa Clarke, general manager of the Quebec City hotel association, said the last thing hotels need this summer is a "union-made catastrophe."

He said hotels are still recovering from the pandemic and last year's wildfires and floods.
    
"We have huge issues, big debts and we have a labour shortage, and all the hoteliers, the owners and general managers, are working extremely hard," Clarke said.    

Clarke said he understands the unions' position, but he doubts hotel owners will be able meet all of their demands because of the financial stress they're under.