Côte Saint-Luc and union representing blue collar workers sign collective agreement

Côte Saint-Luc, February 13, 2009 –The City of Côte Saint-Luc and the Syndicat des Cols bleus regroupés de Montréal, local 301, the labour union representing Cote Saint-Luc blue collar workers signed a new collective agreement on Friday, February 13 at 2:30pm at Cote Saint-Luc City Hall. The new collective agreement is valid until December 31, 2012.

“The collective agreement we negotiated ensures a favourable outcome for Côte Saint-Luc and its blue collar workers,” Mayor Anthony Housefather said. “This agreement takes into account the specific needs of our city, which was not possible when Côte Saint-Luc was part of the Montreal mega-city.”

Among the highlights of the collective agreement are: a return to the pre-merger 38 and 39 hour work weeks (depending on the nature of work being performed) as well as the introduction of regular night and weekend shifts, all of which will reduce overtime costs; salary increases of between 1.5 and 2.5 percent per annum during the term of the collective agreement; the right of the city to hire student employees who would only be covered by certain clauses in the collective agreement; a freeze on sick days and vacation days; a return to the pre-merger system of mobile days and statutory holidays;  paperless payslips, which is more efficient and saves time; updated work task descriptions better suited to needs of the city; better collaboration between the city and the union to discipline workers when required; clear rules on how an employee attains permanence and the introduction of programs to improve work through collaborative training.

“As the document states, this collective agreement reflects the will of the parties to implement new labour relation practices and to cooperate in developing new ways of achieving the mission of the city regarding services and public utilities at the best possible cost, in the best interests of the citizens and employees,” said Councillor Mitchell Brownstein, the council member responsible for public works.

Between 45 and 90 blue collar workers from the labour union are employed by Côte Saint-Luc, depending on the season. Blue collar workers perform tasks including but not limited to snow clearing, pot-hole repairs, cleaning of parks and planting of flowers.

“Blue collar workers genuinely enjoy working for the City of Côte Saint-Luc and our already positive relationship with them helped during the negotiations,” Mayor Housefather said. “I am very proud that the city handled the entire negotiations in house and I want to compliment our Human Resources Director Nadia Di Furia and everyone else involved in the negotiations from the city side and the union side. These negotiations went forward in a collegial manner with a great deal of mutual respect and with a goal of attaining a win-win collective agreement. I believe we successfully achieved that goal.”

For more information: Darryl Levine, Director of Public Affairs and Communications, 514-485-8905, dlevine@cotesaintluc.org