Unionized workers at Hotel Bonaventure locked out by employer for 46 hours

Unionized workers at the Hotel Bonaventure in downtown Montreal have been locked out by their employer.

About a dozen of them were picketing outside the hotel Wednesday morning.

They were gathered at a Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) tent on De la Gauchetière.

A spokesperson for the CSN says employees were locked out at 8 a.m. on Tuesday. It is expected to last 46 hours, ending at 6 a.m. Thursday.

There are 200 workers at Hotel Bonaventure.

They say negotiations between the union and the employer have been difficult.

CityNews reached out to Hotel Bonaventure, but have yet to hear back.

350 employees at the DoubleTree by Hilton near Place des Arts are also locked out, as of Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. to Friday at 3 p.m.

The lockout comes three weeks after thousands of hotel workers across Quebec walked off the job on Aug. 8 for 24 hours.

2,600 employees at 23 hotels in the province were involved in the strike action. They have been turning up the pressure on their employers as negotiations appear to have stalled following 11 rounds of bargaining.

Demands from the union workers include a 36 per cent wage increase over four years, eliminating the use of employment agencies, reducing workloads, that employers increase their contribution to the group insurance plan, and that employees can decide how to divide tips among themselves.