Pointe Claire white-collars stage protest

Around 100 of Pointe Claire's unionized white-collar employees popped out of their offices during lunch hour today to stage a small but noisy protest inside the parking lot at city hall at the corner of St. John's Boulevard and Douglas Shand Avenue, calling attention to the fact they have been without a contract since 2006.

"Pointe Claire is the last one among the 13 (Montreal-area) cities we represent that hasn’t signed yet," explained André Dollo, secretary-general of the Montreal Island-wide Syndicat des Fonctionnaires Municipaux de Montréal.

As employees among the city's librarians, secretarial staff and other office positions whistled, chanted and brandished billboards demanding better working conditions, three police cars kept watch nearby, though proceedings unfolded peacefully.

Dollo said negotiations with the city went badly after it refused to budge on some key demands, such as salary equity between Pointe Claire's 100 permanent employees and 608 auxiliary ones, an increase to "at least catch up on purchasing power," a fair pension plan, etc.

"These demands are by and large the same ones we've been making at other municipalities," he added.

Union employees voted themselves a strike mandate on Oct. 28, a first in white-collar history in the West Island. "We voted with a 74 per cent majority, which, to me, is pretty large," said Dollo.

He was hopeful today's one-hour protest would send the right message to the city administration, and lead to better negotiations quickly.

But according to Mayor Bill McMurchie, today's actions will have no consequences.

""I can tell you that the strike today has not had any positive or negative effects on the city's negotiating plan," he said, adding Pointe Claire's negotiating committee—made up of city representatives and a private negotiation specialist—is doing the best it can to negotiate in good faith and come up with a contract that would please both taxpayers and union employees.

"I won't go into details of the negotiation," McMurchie said, asked if there were any demands on the city's part that were unacceptable to the union.

According to him, no elected council members sit on the committee, though Dollo said at least one council member was on it.

McMurchie said the final contract would bear the signatures of an elected council representative and union negotiating committee reps.

Pointe Claire has also yet to sign a contract with its blue-collar employees, although the city said negotiations there were going well.