SAQ union members back on strike
Demonstration planned for Quebec City while smaller events to be held in rural areas
Several Quebec liquor board (SAQ) retail outlets locations will be closed Thursday due to a one-day walkout of some 5,500 store and office employees.
The SAQ's union is encouraging its members to attend a demonstration that will take place at 11 a.m. in front of the National Assembly in Quebec City.
Buses will transport union members from several regions to the protest. Those in remote areas will have localized demonstrations.
Among the demonstrators will be Geneviève Després, a union representative from Montreal. She was getting on a bus at the SAQ's Carrefour Angrignon location Thursday morning when she spoke with CBC.
"We hope the negotiations with the government will go in the right direction," she said, noting those negotiations have been ongoing for nearly two years. "We love our SAQ. We want to work there for a long time. We love our clients."
Finance Minister Éric Girard told Radio-Canada Thursday morning that the negotiations are going well.
"We will let them negotiate," he said. "We want everyone to return to work."
On Sept. 28, union members voted 96 per cent in favour of banking 18 strike days to be used at a time deemed appropriate. Thursday marks the 10th strike day.
Salary negotiations are the last unresolved issue. At the heart of the conflict has been a requirement to work weekend shifts — the busiest time at the SAQ. The employer wants to increase weekend staffing to meet the demand.
Union members went on strike last Friday to Sunday, returning to work Monday. Some stores were able to remain open during the three-day walkout because managers maintained operations.
Union offers extra compensation to members
In a statement issued to its members Wednesday, the union acknowledged that weekend-long strikes are hard on employees as the majority of hours are worked on the weekend — especially hard, it says, as the holidays approach.
The union is offering additional monetary compensation to those who are scheduled to work on strike days, it says.
On Nov. 16, the Crown corporation's management obtained an order from Quebec Superior Court to supervise the strikers' activities in front of its branches and to ensure adequate access.
Any form of obstruction, violence, vandalism and intimidation around parking lots and shops is prohibited.
The collective agreement expired March 31, 2017.
With files from La Presse Canadienne and Lauren McCallum