Québécois booksellers go on strike
While Québécois bibliophiles in the tune of 120,000 converged on Montreal’s Place Bonaventure last weekend for the city’s 28th annual Salon du Livre, employees at nearly a dozen branches of Quebec’s largest book chain set up picket lines.
Of the 1,000 people employed by Librarie Renaud-Bray in Quebec, 350 are said to be affected by the current labour dispute, in which salaries are a major sticking point. According to a recent article in the Montreal Gazette, the starting wage at Librarie Renaud-Bray is between $7.87 and $8.40 per hour, while minimum wage in Quebec is $7.60.
Contract negotiations have been taking place since April. After the presentation of the latest proposal to the Syndicat des employées et employés professionnels-les et du bureau, the union representing the Renaud-Bray employees, on Friday, workers from 11 of the chain’s 26 stores went on strike Saturday.
Related links:
Click here for the full story from the Montreal Gazette
Click here for an October 2005 Q&Q article on the unionization of booksellers
