MONTREAL — Confederation of National Trade Unions (CSN) members at Prelco’s Montreal window-glass production plant voted by 96% to accept the company’s offer of a 21.5% raise Nov. 17. The new contract runs through September 2029.
“At first, the company was offering 10% over six years,” Sylvain Nelson told the Militant. Then a “final offer” of 17% was rejected by 92% Nov. 4.
“By holding out, we made wage gains and learned a lot,” Michelle Pelletier said. “I used to be the first to say ‘what are they doing on strike?’ But until you’ve gone through it, you don’t know.”
Pelletier joined striking postal workers on their picket line after the Prelco lockout ended.
“If we hadn’t had CSN support, we wouldn’t have gotten as far,” she said. The locked-out workers got over $72,000 in donations.
“Over the course of the fight, we made contact with Prelco employees who are members of Unifor in Riviere-du-Loup, Quebec, and in New Brunswick,” Nelson said. “Some of them came down from Riviere-du-Loup to picket with us, and they wore our union shirts on their jobs.” Unifor members at this Prelco plant are currently in negotiations.
“This was the first time I was ever on strike or locked out,” Koffi Dramane, the local union president, said. “It put me in contact with others who are part of the same fight elsewhere.”