Lockout at Rhona: Talks break off again

Ten days after the Canadian hardware giant began a lockout, talks between management and workers at Rona have failed again.

On Tuesday evening, despite continued efforts by the negotiator from the Ministry of Labor assigned to the file, the management party called off the talks at the negotiating table.

120 workers at Rona l'Entrepot in Montreal's Anjou borough, represented by CSN, expressed regret. Without a work contract since late January, their strike movement was interrupted by a lockout on May 4.

“Since April 10, management has not moved,” said union president Paul-Emile Paquette. She consistently refuses to acknowledge the problems we have with the wage structure as a whole.

The entry wage in Rona d'Anjou is currently set at $0.25 above the minimum wage ($15.75/hour). For a full-time worker, the union maintains, it takes an average of 15 years to reach the maximum wage, currently set at $21.51 an hour.

As part of the current negotiations, employees want to raise the maximum wage by one dollar ($22.51) and shorten the time it takes to reach this maximum. They also want to increase certain premiums.

“Rona must realize that the success of her business depends largely on its people. But we build our customer service not by offering poverty wages,” declared Carolyn Senneville, president of CSN.

As of this writing, Rona has yet to comment.

More details will follow.