MTL Blue Collar Workers Threaten to Ruin Cycling World Championships with Strike

[CaptRenault]

If the workers go through with their threat, it would be a big embarrassment for the city. The cycling world championships are a major global sports event which will already disrupt the normal life of the city with some road closures and detours. There will be athletes, team staff and visitors in the city from around the world. Garbage strewn streets would not be a good look for the city.

The cycling world championships were last held in Montreal in 1974, when the great Eddy Merckx won the race.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/blue-collar-workers-montreal-cycling-championships-strike-9.7329954

The blue-collar workers' union in Montreal has filed a seven-day strike notice, with workers expected to walk out near the end of September during the UCI 2026 Road World Championships.

The strike is scheduled to take place from Sept. 22 and 28 and could disrupt the event, which runs from Sept. 20 to 27 and will bring the world's best cyclists to Montreal.

''We have just wrapped up an intense round of negotiations and management does not seem to have a clear mandate regarding wages,'' said Nicolas De Ciccio, president of the union, the Syndicat des cols bleus regroupés de Montréal.
"The city is still offering wage increases below the inflation rate! Montreal’s blue-collar workers provide an essential service and deserve, at the very least, to be taken seriously at the bargaining table."

• Montreal's blue-collar workers could launch strike during road cycling world championships
• Montrealers, prepare for 'major disruptions' as city gets ready to host world's best cyclists

In a news release, the union said it was not walking away from the table and is waiting for a ''serious'' offer.
"We're not asking for the moon," continued De Ciccio.
The workers' collective agreement expired on Dec. 31, 2024. The union represents about 6,000 workers.
In mid-August, the union had already warned that if the city did not speed up negotiations, it would have "no choice" but to step up its pressure tactics, potentially leading to a "historic labour dispute" during the cycling event.

 

[CaptRenault]

https://montreal.citynews.ca/2026/09/19/montreal-white-blue-collar-workers-rally/

...De Ciccio said the union could use pressure tactics during the championships, but said cyclists’ health and safety would not be put at risk.

“We repeat. We’ve already said it. We do not want to—and will not—endanger the health and safety of cyclists. What we want is to send a message and show that the City of Montreal, as an employer, does not respect its employees if we fail to reach a tentative agreement...”

Well, that's good to know. But what about the health and safety of ordinary citizens? Hmm, we'll see.

 

[twenty4seven]

Strike all the things, esp. when it hurts the most. Collective action is the way.

 

[Assisto]

Strike all the things, esp. when it hurts the most. Collective action is the way.

Le local 301 de la ftq a émis hier un communiqué à l'effet qu'il y aurait entente de principe, qui devra être présentée aux membres avant d'être acceptée. J'ignore cependant si les journées de grève auront tout de même lieu...

 

[twenty4seven]

Le local 301 de la ftq a émis hier un communiqué à l'effet qu'il y aurait entente de principe, qui devra être présentée aux membres avant d'être acceptée. J'ignore cependant si les journées de grève auront tout de même lieu...

C'est formidable. L'action collective est le seul moyen pour les travailleurs d'obtenir ce qu'ils veulent.

 

[CLOUD 500]

C'est formidable. L'action collective est le seul moyen pour les travailleurs d'obtenir ce qu'ils veulent.

Yes well often they are asking for too much which is unreasonable, a good example of this were the Canada Post workers.

 

[CaptRenault]

Good news:

https://montreal.citynews.ca/2026/09/21/strike-avoided-blue-collar-workers/

 

[twenty4seven]

Yes well often they are asking for too much which is unreasonable, a good example of this were the Canada Post workers.

Hard disagree. Always ask for more, esp if they say it's unreasonable, and always stand with unions.

 

[CLOUD 500]

Hard disagree. Always ask for more, esp if they say it's unreasonable, and always stand with unions.

But they hold the public hostage like the STM workers did.

 

[twenty4seven]

But they hold the public hostage like the STM workers did.

I realize they pay media outlets to report things like this with a slant but I'm still don't understand why common people take the sides of corporations and governments over striking workers, like they're the only ones holding out during negotiations. They're the ones holding the public hostage, not the unions and strikers. If their workers were happy they wouldn't be striking.

We gotta stop doing the heavy lifting for cheap CEOs and poor civic managers.

 

[CLOUD 500]

I realize they pay media outlets to report things like this with a slant but I'm still don't understand why common people take the sides of corporations and governments over striking workers, like they're the only ones holding out during negotiations. They're the ones holding the public hostage, not the unions and strikers. If their workers were happy they wouldn't be striking.

We gotta stop doing the heavy lifting for cheap CEOs and poor civic managers.

The workers punish the civilians. They should punish the CEOs and managers. You do realize when the STM went on strike it does not affect CEOs and managers? They all got money and go by car. It is the poor and students who are penalized since they are not rich and are at the mercy of public transit. Then they got to pay a lot of money taking a taxi to get to work and school. I know they provided service during peak hours three times a day but not everyone work business hours. At one point they did not provide weekend service, what about all the people who work weekends? They had to take a taxi each time to get to and back home from work.

Can you imagine when if the government did not put the dock workers back to work? On their already great salaries they wanted more. Food would not reach store shelves prices would go up or there would be a shortage. Again CEOs and managers would not be affected much as they got the high salaries to pay for expensive food. The poor and students would be affected the most.

I do not think you see the big picture. Something to think about.

 

[twenty4seven]

I think we both see the picture, you just view it through the lens the oligarchs and powerful want you to.

Yes, when workers go on strike, ordinary people are affected more than C-suite execs, obv, but there are (at least) 2 sides to a negotiation. The workers are taking action collectively because a handful of people who make decisions are not meeting them in fair negotiations. So, are you under the impression that a bunch of mostly disconnected people from a lower income class, who all have families and bills and other responsibilities, WANT to stop working (and therefore getting paid) just to be vilified by the media and the public for their actions?

They're doing it because they feel they need to. So, who is to blame for services being out in a strike? The totality of the working class, whose needs and requests are being ignored and ridiculed by the powerful, or the small group of people holding the purse strings that are forcing them to strike?

You don't like the strikes? Pressure the decision makers to cough up the bucks. Don't take it out on the people doing the jobs you clearly desperately need them to be doing.

Something to think about.

 

[CLOUD 500]

I do not agree. Unionized workers are entitled. They get paid a lot more then those in the private sector. Did you read up on some of the demands of those Postal workers? Clearly they were entitled and disconnected from reality. They also choose to strike when to impacts civilians the most, last year they decided to strike in Fall when students go to work. The postal workers striked during holiday season. I am not on the side of corporations or these entitled unionized workers. I am on the side of the little guy, those working minimum wage and students because at the end they got to pay the price for their war.

 

[twenty4seven]

I do not agree. Unionized workers are entitled. They get paid a lot more then those in the private sector. Did you read up on some of the demands of those Postal workers? Clearly they were entitled and disconnected from reality. They also choose to strike when to impacts civilians the most, last year they decided to strike in Fall when students go to work. The postal workers striked during holiday season. I am not on the side of corporations or these entitled unionized workers. I am on the side of the little guy, those working minimum wage and students because at the end they got to pay the price for their war.

Yes, strikes are more effective when they will hurt the most.
Yes, they publish salaries/demands/etc on purpose so people making less (and sometimes more) will criticize the worker instead of the owners
Yes, unions should get paid more than the private sector

No, no one needs to 'pay the price' if business owners come to negotiations in good faith and work to mitigate worker unrest. Striking only happens when workers can't get that through to management.
No, union workers aren't entitled, they're emboldened. They know wholeheartedly what you fail to understand. Working alone, you can't move these behemoths off paying you as little as humanly possible (and often even less than that). Working together is the only way to get things done.
No, you're not on the side of the little guy. By defending owners and vilifying workers, you're doing their job for them, so you're on their side.

 

[CLOUD 500]

No, you're not on the side of the little guy. By defending owners and vilifying workers, you're doing their job for them, so you're on their side.

Yes I am, you are not you are motivated by a misguided ideology. Tell that to the guy that has to go to work on the weekend and has to spend $25 Uber one way then another $25 to back home. The workers penalize the public. The workers take advantage to get what they want.

Japan bus drivers: Strikes with a difference

As Japanese bus drivers refuse to take fares, here are some of the world's most unusual strikes.

www.bbc.com

https://www.npr.org/2018/05/03/607996787/japans-striking-bus-drivers-refuse-to-charge-customers

^^^^ See Japan has got it right. When their transit workers go on strike they hurt the ones responsible, the managers and corporations. The workers continue doing their shifts and running their routes but do not collect fares. The only thing corporations respond to is when you hit their bottom line.

 

[twenty4seven]

Yes I am, you are not you are motivated by a misguided ideology. Tell that to the guy that has to go to work on the weekend and has to spend $25 Uber one way then another $25 to back home. The workers penalize the public. The workers take advantage to get what they want.

Japan bus drivers: Strikes with a difference

As Japanese bus drivers refuse to take fares, here are some of the world's most unusual strikes.

www.bbc.com

https://www.npr.org/2018/05/03/607996787/japans-striking-bus-drivers-refuse-to-charge-customers

^^^^ See Japan has got it right. When their transit workers go on strike they hurt the ones responsible, the managers and corporations. The workers continue doing their shifts and running their routes but do not collect fares. The only thing corporations respond to is when you hit their bottom line.

The workers are the public ffs... They're just like you or me, they get impacted by outages and strikes when other unions and industries strike, that's why class solidarity is crucial and it's EXACTLY why the owners need to make them the bad guys in the public eye, so someone can jump on a forum for sex workers and complain about other working class people while dickriding the owner class.

Almost nothing affects the money, and striking hurts the people doing it IMMEDIATELY that's why striking is the last resort. If they were met in good faith they wouldn't ever strike. It's great when you can do it in a way that doesn't impact other people but that rare and it's also part of the beauty of collective action; if striking hurts the public they also get involved and that's why the owners of capitol will spend a chunk of it to try and deflect blame, but who is ultimately the one with the solution? Who can fix any potential strike in seconds? The ones holding the money. They hold out as long as they can to see which way the wind blows in the public eye and then still end up making the deal if the public isn't buying it (which they never should).

It's irrelevant to talk about this if you can't see that. This pull up your socks and suck-it-up attitude people have about other people in the same socio-economic situation asking for more of their employers is lame and really a projection. A projection based on the shame that they either can't or won't do it themselves in their workplace if a similar situation occurred. Don't worry though, the unions will still do all the heavy lifting, even if they get a black eye from keyboard warriors, and their rising tide will raise all ships. Without them we would have no weekends, no workplace safety standards, no minimum wage and an even greater income disparity then we already currently do. Fuck, we'd probably still have kids working in mines without them.

Anyway, nice chat. Strike every fucking thing and never cross a picket line.

 

[CLOUD 500]

The workers are the public ffs... They're just like you or me, they get impacted by outages and strikes when other unions and industries strike, that's why class solidarity is crucial and it's EXACTLY why the owners need to make them the bad guys in the public eye, so someone can jump on a forum for sex workers and complain about other working class people while dickriding the owner class.

Almost nothing affects the money, and striking hurts the people doing it IMMEDIATELY that's why striking is the last resort. If they were met in good faith they wouldn't ever strike. It's great when you can do it in a way that doesn't impact other people but that rare and it's also part of the beauty of collective action; if striking hurts the public they also get involved and that's why the owners of capitol will spend a chunk of it to try and deflect blame, but who is ultimately the one with the solution? Who can fix any potential strike in seconds? The ones holding the money. They hold out as long as they can to see which way the wind blows in the public eye and then still end up making the deal if the public isn't buying it (which they never should).

It's irrelevant to talk about this if you can't see that. This pull up your socks and suck-it-up attitude people have about other people in the same socio-economic situation asking for more of their employers is lame and really a projection. A projection based on the shame that they either can't or won't do it themselves in their workplace if a similar situation occurred. Don't worry though, the unions will still do all the heavy lifting, even if they get a black eye from keyboard warriors, and their rising tide will raise all ships. Without them we would have no weekends, no workplace safety standards, no minimum wage and an even greater income disparity then we already currently do. Fuck, we'd probably still have kids working in mines without them.

Anyway, nice chat. Strike every fucking thing and never cross a picket line.

Last resort? For example Canada Post workers have been on strike for two years. Some of their demands, they want job security, paid time to wash their hands, they want paid meals for shifts over five hours. Seems like a bit much to make these demands from a Crown Corporation that has been loosing hundreds of millions of dollars since the past twenty years. Canada Post workers also do not want them to hire part-time workers that work weekends. About good faith, the union is not making demands in good faith they are exploiting their position by penalizing the public to get what they want. It is funny you mention about same socio-economic situation when you clearly do not care that minimum wage workers and students are the ones that end paying the price for this. Students last year missed class, or had to spend the entire day at school. Weekend workers who had to spend $40 a day on Uber.

Which is why the Federal government drafted legislation to put the workers back to work and they did the right decision. You do not see the big picture that is clear to me. There is collateral damage in strikes. See why Amazones shut down all their warehouses in Quebec when the workers wanted to unionize. Unions also protect lazy bad workers who should be fired. The railroad workers went on strike but the government put them back to work with binding arbitration. Can you imagine how the public will pay the price if the government never put them pack to work? Many household good depend on rail transport, water treatment chemicals are transported by rail putting clean drinking water at risk, passenger rail travel would be at risk. Then there were the port workers who went on strike but they were put back to work. $1.2 billion of trade is dependent on the port. You would end up with empty store shelves and a shortage of food. They had to be put back to work. The unions were not making demands on good faith instead using threats because they know their work is essential to get what they want.

 

[twenty4seven]

We won't agree on anything here bc you must be under the impression that employers always or often acting in good faith towards their workers and that the majority of the reason that corporations pass down cost increases to consumers has to be at the expense of keeping up with an ever-increasing standard-of-living or paying their employees a livable wage rather than those same increases (and the increase in cost-of-living) have been shown to primarily be the product of corporations maximizing profits for shareholders and executives, not in actual cost-of-goods or manufacturing.

I mean, shovelling shit for Amazon (?!?) is the example you want to use position this? They've been investigated and exposed and sanctioned in countries around the world for their treatment of their workers, and their union-busting efforts are well-documented. They have made a business model of forcing small and medium-sized businesses out of local communities by directly undercutting them so drastically that they lose money on their products knowing those businesses will fold before they do so they can be the only one left standing. Or, if you are selling with them and doing well they go directly to your manufacturer and either buy them out or clone your product for cheaper and flood their site with their 'Basics' line, effectively stealing your product. If these are the paragons of good business you're hoping to emulate, we are well and truly doomed.

Increasing the average worker wage and benefits through collective action, in a time when the gap of wealth inequality is at one of it's greatest in modern civilization, is not only important and good, it's also ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL now, as AI is poised to fund the next big wealth transfer from the poor and middle-class upward since the Industrial Revolution. No organization is perfect, so no union is either, but their presence helps raise the expectation for all workers, unionized or not, and while you may not think they 'deserve' it or whatever, the upward pull of their struggle increases worker protections and wage proliferation across the board.

 

[CLOUD 500]

We won't agree on anything here bc you must be under the impression that employers always or often acting in good faith towards their workers and that the majority of the reason that corporations pass down cost increases to consumers has to be at the expense of keeping up with an ever-increasing standard-of-living or paying their employees a livable wage rather than those same increases (and the increase in cost-of-living) have been shown to primarily be the product of corporations maximizing profits for shareholders and executives, not in actual cost-of-goods or manufacturing.

I mean, shovelling shit for Amazon (?!?) is the example you want to use position this? They've been investigated and exposed and sanctioned in countries around the world for their treatment of their workers, and their union-busting efforts are well-documented. They have made a business model of forcing small and medium-sized businesses out of local communities by directly undercutting them so drastically that they lose money on their products knowing those businesses will fold before they do so they can be the only one left standing. Or, if you are selling with them and doing well they go directly to your manufacturer and either buy them out or clone your product for cheaper and flood their site with their 'Basics' line, effectively stealing your product. If these are the paragons of good business you're hoping to emulate, we are well and truly doomed.

Increasing the average worker wage and benefits through collective action, in a time when the gap of wealth inequality is at one of it's greatest in modern civilization, is not only important and good, it's also ABSOLUTELY CRUCIAL now, as AI is poised to fund the next big wealth transfer from the poor and middle-class upward since the Industrial Revolution. No organization is perfect, so no union is either, but their presence helps raise the expectation for all workers, unionized or not, and while you may not think they 'deserve' it or whatever, the upward pull of their struggle increases worker protections and wage proliferation across the board.

The workers can work elsewhere if working at Amazones is so bad? My point is more about the collateral damage of strikes. You talk about class inequality but here you are oblivious to students and minimum wage workers who get impacted by STM strikes. Or the poor people who will suffer with very high food prices if dock workers went on strike long term. Interesting take you got here.

 

[twenty4seven]

The workers can work elsewhere if working at Amazones is so bad? My point is more about the collateral damage of strikes. You talk about class inequality but here you are oblivious to students and minimum wage workers who get impacted by STM strikes. Or the poor people who will suffer with very high food prices if dock workers went on strike long term. Interesting take you got here.

You court Amazon and deserve what you get, and businesses that emulate them make life harder for everyone. I've specifically said that the working class (which includes students and esp min wage earners) get affected by strikes, which directly and immediately includes the people actually striking. They strike and it sucks and conditions are met or terms are agreed upon and the bar for what is acceptable to pay people for that job or in that industry just went up. Which means that while they also suffered during the strike, these students go into a workforce that is better equipped to allow them to earn a livable wage. Same with minimum wage workers. If no one fought for increased wages (in any sector) the minimum wage would be dramatically lower. Look at states and countries where collective organizing is ruled against or squashed and you'll more often find that their minimum wages and worker protections are dramatically lowered and eroded. High food prices aren't affected by dock worker pay in any conceivable way compared to the degree that insane executive pay and shareholder return and greed and anti-trust actions by oligopolies affect them, which has been well-documented. If you believe the reason Loblaws charges you dramatically more for a banana year over year is because a few hundred people on the docks are getting a bit more per hour than I've got some volcano insurance to sell ya.

This isn't difficult and you're being obstinate for the purpose of justifying what you know is an untenable position. Seeing as it's just us talking about it here and you don't seem interested in entertaining the idea that whole industries of workers demanding more helps everyone, even though it may come with short-term struggle, I figure it isn't worth keeping this back-and-forth alive, so I just wish you a better, more empathetic, day.