Le Soleil de Châteauguay | Mercier’s blue-collar and white-collar workers could go on strike

The 55 blue- and white-collar workers at Mercier say they are stunned by the latest salary offer received. To the point where, for the Union of Municipal Corporation Employees of the City of Mercier – CUPE local 3153, the Earth calls the City.

A pressure tactics mandate, adopted unanimously on June 19, could even allow a strike.

“A salary offer without retroactivity is a joke to workers,” says Christopher Curadeau, president of CUPE local 3153. A zero-cost negotiation in a context of inflation like the one we are experiencing at the moment would amount to making us poorer. It’s not complicated, the requests we make are almost all systematically refused by the city’s negotiating team. »

The latest offer suggests a 13% increase spread over a six-year period. This is considered “clearly insufficient” by the members of the union negotiating committee. For comparison, CUPE Local 3153 points out that workers in the City of Delson obtained a salary increase of 3% to 5% for the year 2023.

The union maintains that the representatives of the City of Mercier have adopted a hard line, reflecting the dynamic that has developed between the employer and its firefighters.

Blue-collar and white-collar workers in the City of Mercier have been without employment contracts since December 31.

Mercier in dialogue mode

Vincent Lanctôt, director of communications and citizen relations, seemed surprised to learn that municipal employees held a mandate that could include a strike. “There was a negotiation session yesterday [le 26 juin] and another meeting is planned for July, he said. The two parties are in a process of negotiations.”

He added that the administration was in dialogue mode and was still trying to discuss with the employees’ union to arrive at harmoniously negotiated agreements. “We are looking for a solution that is satisfactory for our employees and which respects our ability to pay,” he said.