SAQ: Organized warehouse workers call off strike

As of Tuesday evening, 800 or more union workers working in SAQ warehouses had announced that they would suspend their strike and return to work by next Monday.

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The Canadian Union of Public Employees explained that it wanted to give the negotiating table a chance to negotiate.

“We do not want to hold SAQ customers hostage and since we are finally seeing progress on the negotiating table, we agree to suspend the strike for a few days to give the negotiations a last chance,” said union adviser Michelle Gratton. By press release.

In lieu of this treaty, SAQ undertook to provide the union with all its warehouse locations, preventing it from calling in replacement workers to replace union members.

The warehouse workers’ strike, which began on Monday, has already begun to have an impact in Quebec, but the supply of bottles to SAQ branches, restaurants, bars, grocery stores and convenience stores has also been disrupted. Already, queues can be noticed in front of branches on Tuesday, with some shelves bare.

The state-owned company also warned that production shortages would arise and that an unpredictable situation would arise as the holiday season approaches.

Warehouse employees who feel they are being paid less than their colleagues working in SAQ branches are demanding better wages.

“Our members’ salaries are no longer competitive and they have to work much longer due to labor shortages. This shortage will cause occupational health and safety issues, ”said Mitchell Graton.

He said workers would return to the warehouses by Wednesday morning, but would walk out again from next Monday if there was no significant progress in the talks.

Warehouse workers also went on strike during a one-day strike last week, already disrupting bottle distribution logistics.

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