Death threats, sabotage shake Montreal suburb as uncollected snow piles up

Daniel Poirier has been taking matters into his own hands, shovelling snow on his street in an off-island suburb of Montreal.

Poirier lives on Albert-Einstein Boulevard in Châteauguay, Que. The normally two-way residential street is effectively one way thanks to the mounds of snow that have yet to be removed since the back-to-back storms in January that buried much of the region.

"They just passed once since the beginning of winter," said Poirier, referring to the municipality's snow-removal crews which are blue-collar workers for the city.

He said it's dangerous for kids to walk around the neighbourhood, and the mayor agrees.

Mayor Éric Allard said children have been forced to climb over snow banks to get to school in recent weeks because some municipal staff are not only refusing to work, but even making death threats against a supervisor and breaking equipment in protest of the city's decision to bring in private contractors to complete unfinished snow-removal work.

Allard said the city has made an effort in recent years to invest in new equipment and upgrade its methods to provide the best possible service to residents.

Regardless, the job wasn't getting completed properly, so the city used a clause in the blue collar workers' collective agreement that allows for a private company to be hired when work is unfinished, he said.

Blue collar workers got upset, mayor says

When the city informed employees of this plan, many became upset, said Allard.

Staff refused to work overtime hours, declining night or weekend assignments, he said. Even when there was a water line burst, staff refused to work, he said.

So the city had to go to the Tribunal administratif du travail, a board that handles labour-related issues in the province.

Châteauguay requested the tribunal's attention on Saturday evening, and now the arbitration is ongoing this week, with a meeting scheduled Wednesday.

But in the meantime, city equipment has been vandalized and a noose was found in the municipal garage in a clear threat against a supervisor, Allard said.

"That's unacceptable in 2023," he said. "We don't make jokes like that. It's a very, very serious situation."

Metal rods have been hidden in the snow banks, Allard said, and three times now, snowblowers have been damaged. Breaking equipment and intimidation is an outdated method of negotiation, he said.

"I am pretty sure it is a small group that does that — that changes the mood at the garage," said Allard, explaining what he thinks only a handful of employees are involved.

"It's important to specify that most of the employees are doing a good job. They are proud of what they are doing and they do a lot to make sure the city is clean."

Union blames city's management

The mayor said he hopes a solution will be found with the tribunal. The city administration and the union should have the same objective — to serve the citizens, he said.

The union declined to be interviewed, but representative Marie-Christine Morin sent a statement by email. 

She said the union tried to find solutions with the city to oversee the snow-removal operations, "but despite that, the city wanted to do its own thing and they called in the private sector to do the work."

"In fact, the main problem is that management is failing in the city of Châteauguay," Morin said.

"The city wants to save money and they try to cut corners and now blame the union. That does not make any sense."

She said the union looks forward to discussing the issue with the tribunal.