SAQ employees begin two-day strike

The union representing some 5,000 workers at the Société des alcools du Québec (SAQ), begins its two-day strike on Wednesday.

The union confirmed at midnight on Wednesday via Facebook that it was officially going on strike because of insufficient progress at the negotiating table for their new collective agreement.

Unless there is a significant breakthrough, the strike will continue Thursday.

“We are starting negotiations next Monday,” said SAQ employee and union Vice President Alexandre Bolduc. “But we are telling our employer that we want to go forward and push our demand to this negotiation.”

These two strike days are the first of a 15-day strike mandate by union members that was approved last month.

The main points of dispute include the addition of permanent positions, access to insurance and access to training.

“We are striking today because we live under a lot of precarity for our part-time at the SAQ. It takes about 15 years to become full-timer. We have no collective insurance when we are part-timers. 70 per cent of our staff are part-timers,” explained Bolduc. “So, we are trying to find a solution with that. We want more full-time at the SAQ. We want a better collective insurance. So, that’s why we’re striking right now. We need better quality of life in our working contract.”

The question of wages has not yet been addressed, reported the union, Syndicat des employés de magasins et de bureaux de la Société des alcools du Québec, which is part of the CSN-affiliated Fédération des employé(e)s des services publics (FEESP-CSN).

For its part, SAQ management indicated earlier this week that a business continuity plan would be put in place in the event of a strike, to offer customers limited access to its branch network.

On Wednesday, several mobilization events are scheduled to take place in connection with the strike, including in Montreal, Quebec City, Trois-Rivières, Sherbrooke, Saguenay, Gatineau, Rouyn-Noranda and Sainte-Thérèse.

“We decided to do two days, but we are keeping the other 13 days for another time. But we want to give the time to the negotiations to go forward after these two days,” said Bonduc.

Union representatives are also due to meet the media Wednesday morning at the Place des Festivals in Montreal.

SAQ President and CEO Jacques Farcy spoke at the National Assembly on Tuesday, about the SAQ component of the Ministry of Finance budget and said he was confident about reaching an agreement with the union members.

“Negotiations are very active, and real progress is being made at the table, so I’m confident we’ll reach an agreement,” said Farcy.

However, Farcy made it clear that in the event of a labour dispute, the SAQ’s objective was to keep as many branches as they can open, but only management staff would be working on the floor.

Bonduc said SAQ employees also want to provide better service and knowledge to their customers.

“We want to provide better knowledge on wine and give a better service. That’s why we are striking too. We want to offer other kind of services and we can’t wait to go back and help our customers. But we want them to support us, to not go in stores right now, because it would help us to go forward with our demand.”

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews