Laval, QC, July 9, 2018 – Members of Teamsters Local Union 106 are on a mission to improve conditions in their workplaces and raise wages in their industry.

Five groups of workers at Résidences Soleil retirement homes in Granby, Laval, Saint Hilaire, Pointe-aux-Trembles and Saint-Laurent will go on strike at 8 am on July 17, unless their employer can put forward a fair and acceptable contract offer. Their latest offers, which were submitted in the presence of a mediator, were massively rejected by some 300 members of Local Union 106 at various union meetings over the last few weeks.

Wages and workload are the main sticking points for the Teamsters.

Wages in private sector retirement homes are $6 behind those in public sector homes, despite staff doing exactly the same work and caring for seniors with the same passion and dedication.

“We need to improve working conditions in order to limit – maybe even stop completely – the labour shortage in retirement homes that we’ve noticed over the past years,” explained the president of Teamsters Local Union 106, Jean Chartrand. “We’re talking about women and men who care for our seniors. It’s an important job, and they deserve to be paid accordingly.”

Teamsters have noticed that employees at some Résidences Soleil retirement homes are even quitting their jobs to work at fast food restaurants, citing higher wages.

“I’m calling on union members across the sector to support their sisters and brothers at these five Résidences Soleil retirement homes,” concluded the union leader. “Teamsters are fighting a battle that will affect retirement homes across the province; only by sticking together will we succeed.”

For their part, workers at the Résidences Soleil retirement home in Boucherville voted 74% to accept management offers at a union meeting last June, thereby averting a strike at that location.

Teamsters represent over 40,000 workers in the province of Québec, including over 1000 workers at retirement homes and CHSLDs. The International Brotherhood of Teamsters, with which Teamsters Canada is affiliated, represents 1.4 million members in North America.

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Stéphane Lacroix
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