{"id":608225,"date":"2026-04-16T15:22:10","date_gmt":"2026-04-16T15:22:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/608225\/"},"modified":"2026-04-16T15:22:10","modified_gmt":"2026-04-16T15:22:10","slug":"montreal-blue-collar-workers-hold-large-rally-during-second-day-of-three-day-strike","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/608225\/","title":{"rendered":"Montreal blue-collar workers hold large rally during second day of three-day strike"},"content":{"rendered":"

Montreal\u2019s blue-collar workers are holding a major rally Thursday as their three-day strike enters its second day.<\/p>\n

The walkout, led by the Syndicat des cols bleus regroup\u00e9s de Montr\u00e9al (CUPE 301), began Wednesday at 6 a.m. and is scheduled to continue until Saturday at 6 a.m. The union represents about 6,200 City of Montreal employees across roughly 180 job titles.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe city isn\u2019t offering us anything,\u201d said Jean-Pierre Lauzon, president of CUPE 301. \u201cThey want to settle for an 11 per cent raise, and that\u2019s unacceptable to us. Our blue-collar workers are worth more than that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually think that this is a way for the workers to indicate to the public that they actually care,\u201d said CUPE Local 79 president, Nas Yadollahi. \u201cWorkers really do hold the balance of power, and I think the employer forgets sometimes because they take the work that these workers do every day for granted.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Montreal blue-collar workers carrying signs at a strike in Montreal on April 16, 2026. (Hayder Mahdy, CityNews) <\/p>\n

This marks the second strike action in the current round of contract negotiations, following a one-day walkout in February, the first blue-collar strike in more than 15 years.<\/p>\n

In a statement, the city officials said:<\/p>\n

\u201cThe City of Montreal is sparing no effort to reach a negotiated agreement as quickly as possible with the Syndicat des cols bleus regroup\u00e9s de Montr\u00e9al, aimed at renewing the collective agreement of some 5,500 blue-collar employees. The City is cooperating fully to reach an agreement in the best interest of the parties and that respects the financial capacity of the City and Montreal taxpayers.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"Montreal blue-collar workers rally near Olympic stadium in Montreal on April 16, 2026. (Hayder Mahdy, CityNews) <\/p>\n

The union says they\u2019ve agreed on non-monetary items, but say the point of contention stems from the city\u2019s refusal on their demand of a minimum 20 per cent raise in worker salaries, which they say is essential to help workers cope with the increasing cost of living.<\/p>\n

The union says the dispute is mainly focused on wages. The City of Montreal has offered an 11 per cent salary increase over five years, citing its financial constraints.<\/p>\n

\"\"Montreal blue-collar workers carrying signs at a strike in Montreal on April 16, 2026. (Hayder Mahdy, CityNews) <\/p>\n

The union, however, argues the offer would lead to a loss of purchasing power for workers.<\/p>\n

The current collective agreement expired on December 31, 2024, and negotiations are ongoing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Montreal\u2019s blue-collar workers are holding a major rally Thursday as their three-day strike enters its second day. The…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":608226,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194292],"tags":[49,48,2338],"class_list":["post-608225","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-montreal","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-montreal"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608225","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=608225"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/608225\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/608226"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=608225"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=608225"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=608225"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}