Bargaining in bad faith: the SPPMM takes legal action against the City of Dorval

MONTRÉAL, June 19, 2023 /CNW/ - A complaint against the City of Dorval has recently been filed by the Syndicat des professionnelles et professionnels municipaux de Montréal (SPPMM) with the labour law tribunal (Tribunal administratif du travail - TAT), for bargaining in bad faith.

While the collective agreement has been expired since December 31, 2018, no progress has been made in the negotiations for several months. At the initiative of the SPPMM, a mediator was appointed, and mediation process was initiated to get the employer to resume negotiations, without success. Rather than resuming discussions or engaging in the mediation process in good faith, the City of Dorval, through its spokesperson, simply reiterated the employer's demands, without having a mandate to negotiate the union's demands. We can no longer speak of negotiations when only the employer's demands are on the table, completely disregarding the demands of municipal professionals, who have been waiting for several years to renew their collective agreement.

Faced with this lack of openness on the part of elected municipal officials, the SPPMM had no choice but to turn to the courts. By filing its complaint for bargaining in bad faith, the SPPMM wishes to force the City of Dorval to resume negotiations in a serious manner in order to reach a satisfactory agreement between the parties.

«?We would have preferred not to have to come to this, but we are not dealing with a receptive interlocutor, acting in good faith. We have proposed many compromises, and nothing is happening. Our members have been without an agreement since 2019 and things need to move forward. Faced with this deadlock, the SPPMM undertakes these actions to defend the right to fair, free and equitable negotiations and to resume a real process of collective bargaining. »

«?This lack of openness on the part of the elected officials of the City of Dorval truly represents a direspect for the professionals who contribute to the development of the community. These workers carry out important mandates for the population of Dorval and deserve better recognition and better understanding. »

-Anne Dorais, President of SPPMM

The Syndicat des professionnelles et professionnels municipaux de Montréal (SPPMM), represents nearly 2,900 members working in the various departments and boroughs of the City of Montreal and five reconstituted cities of the Montreal agglomeration, namely Côte-Saint-Luc, Dorval, Mont-Royal, Pointe-Claire and Westmount. The SPPMM catalyzes the energy of its members to develop innovative and mobilizing proposals for the benefit of its workers, but also for the citizens of the Montreal agglomeration. Among the various fields of activity of our members, let us mention among others, but not exclusively, libraries, finances, communications, computer science, urban planning, sports and recreation and economic and community development.

SOURCE SYNDICAT DES PROFESSIONNELLES ET PROFESSIONNELS MUNICIPAUX DE MONTREAL