The day following a strike mandate was voted by 99%, workers at Molson’s new plant in Longueuil had a lot to say yesterday regarding their working conditions.
• Read also: Strike mandate at the Molson plant in Longueuil
“With salary increases of 2.25% per year, while inflation exceeds 5%, it’s noticeably a little laughing at me”, launched the Journalpiqué, Patrick Villeneuve, who works in brewing beer in Longueuil.
Sunday, more than 99% of the 320 workers in assembly gave a strike mandate to the Local Lodge 1999 of the Teamsters to show the teeth.
Wage increases
Since last December 31, the collective agreement of the 424 workers has expired and even if discussions were started on January 10, the union members are of the opinion that we are playing with their achievements.
On the menu: a purchasing power that crumbles and pension plans less attractive than before, denounce the workers questioned yesterday.
“At the last negotiations, my pension fund went from defined benefits to defined contributions and even today, we are being asked to make concessions on this,” says Patrick Villeneuve bitterly.
For Giovanni Spallone, who repairs the trucks used to deliver beer, Molson’s attitude is deplorable. “We are not even able to maintain the status quo,” said the union secretary.
“Since 2009, we have lost a lot of benefits, including insurance, pension plans and several normative benefits,” he says.
Molson defends himself
Yesterday, Molson reacted to the Journal claiming quite the opposite.
“Molson Coors has a long history of offering well-paid jobs and we offer our Montreal employees a competitive salary,” assured Frédéric Bourgeois-LeBlanc, to corporate communications.
“We are disappointed that we have not been able to reach an agreement at this time, but our objective remains to reach an agreement with our unionized employees that is both fair and equitable,” he concluded.
The two sides are due to meet on Thursday to try to break the deadlock.
