Quebec hotel staff strike for 24 hours after wave of surprise protests

Thousands of staff at hotels in Montreal, Quebec City and Sherbrooke are on strike for 24 hours Thursday, with the aim of getting better salaries, working conditions and training. 

The one-day strike affects 23 hotels and includes more than 2,600 workers.

A river of green flowed through downtown Montreal as workers in matching shirts took to the streets to have their demands heard at a rally at Place des Arts, waving flags and blowing horns.

They marched to the Hilton Garden Inn on Sherbrooke Street where workers occupied the lobby for about 20 minutes before being read an eviction notice by a hotel manager and leaving. 

Eric Yoshy, a demonstrator from the Fairmont Queen Elizabeth, says he's hoping the strike moves the needle at the negotiating table.

"Hopefully by demonstrating today, both sides — the management and our union — start negotiating even more and [compromising] on certain things that they want and we want," he said. 

Yoshy said workers want higher pay, more reasonable working hours and better benefits. 

The Confédération des syndicats nationaux-affiliated union Fédération du commerce (FC-CSN), which represents more than 3,500 workers — including employees at 30 Quebec hotels — said it planned the daylong strike because of the lack of progress at the bargaining table.

"They're not talking much, we're not hearing anything," said Rosemarie Williams, president of the CSN union for workers at the Comfort Inn in Pointe-Claire, Que., of her employer. 

She said "making some noise" may help hotel owners accept some of the demands workers are asking for. The CSN has also made it clear it will not hesitate to stage further strike days this summer if negotiations fail. 

In a statement, the Greater Montreal Hotel Association says it has been available all week to engage in negotiations, "but it seems [we] are the only ones who want to find a solution."

It said the planned strike was "avoidable," adding hotel owners are calling on the unions to "prioritize collaboration over pressure tactics." 

The association says the 16 affected hotels in and around Montreal will remain open but may have reduced services — including some closed restaurants and bars — as managers cover for striking employees.

Wage increases, less work

Thursday's strike comes a week after more than 400 employees from downtown Montreal hotels, the Gouverneur Place Dupuis and the Hilton DoubleTree, held a surprise 36-hour demonstration. 

It was the fourth walkout organized since talks between the hotel industry and the FC-CSN started in April. 

Before that, nearly 1,000 workers at the Queen Elizabeth, Marriott Château Champlain and Bonaventure hotels in Montreal went on a surprise 24-hour strike on July 28. By the following afternoon, two of the three hotels had locked out striking workers.

Demands from the union include 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.

More than 90 per cent of members voted in favour of a 120-hour strike mandate in recent weeks, according to the union federation.

With files from Isaac Olson, Rowan Kennedy, The Canadian Press and CBC Montreal's Daybreak, written by Sabrina Jonas and Holly Cabrera