SAINT-JEAN-SUR-RICHELIEU, Que. – Workers at the Mondor apparel plant in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Que., have voted strongly in favour of strike action if needed to back their efforts to negotiate a fair collective agreement with the company.
The 25 workers, most of whom are seamstresses and assemblers, produce tights and apparel for women and for dancing, figure skating and gymnastics enthusiasts. The workers, members of the Syndicat des Métallos/United Steelworkers union (USW), voted 84% in favour of strike action, if necessary, to counter the company’s refusal to offer wage increases in the current round of bargaining.
A five-year collective agreement previously negotiated between the parties includes a provision to re-open negotiations on wages and bonuses after three years. The workers exercised that provision, however, since negotiations began, the company has refused to offer any increase in compensation for the next two years.
The employer has attempted to justify its proposed two-year wage freeze by claiming financial difficulties, but it has categorically refused to open its books and demonstrate transparency regarding those claims, the USW says.
“If the company isn’t making money, it can just show us the books. But at every bargaining session, it’s the same story – the employer brings out the violins to justify impoverishing these seamstresses,” said Chantal Lalancette, president of USW Local 9414, which represents the Mondor workers.
“These women deserve a decent wage,” Lalancette said.
Many of the highly experienced seamstresses are paid on a piecework basis, and their wages hover around $23 an hour in general. The USW has requested the intervention of a government-appointed conciliator in the next round of negotiations, which is scheduled for April 29.
“We can’t allow for our members’ working and living standards to decline, when their employer refuses to be transparent about its real financial situation,” said USW union representative Martin Courville.
“For several years now, we’ve seen this employer limit its hiring and increasingly resort to using subcontractors. There are limits to how far you can exploit skilled workers who have been so dedicated to producing quality products,” Courville said.
If the Mondor workers opt to strike, they will be able to count on the resources and support of the entire USW/Syndicat des Métallos union, he added.
“Our tradition of solidarity within all of our local unions is well-known, and it applies as much to our largest units as it does to this unit of 25 workers who have decided they deserve to be respected and to be paid what they are worth,” Courville said. The Syndicat des Métallos/United Steelworkers, affiliated to the Quebec Federation of Labour, is the largest private-sector union in Quebec, representing more than 60,000 workers in all sectors of the economy.
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