Technical and professional employees at the SAQ have voted in favour of the tentative agreement their union negotiated earlier this week, bringing an end to the group’s first-ever strike.
The SPTP-SAQ-CSN union said Thursday 79.6 per cent of members supported the deal in a secret-ballot vote held during a general assembly.
The union represents around 500 SAQ workers in roles including online operations, IT development, procurement, marketing, store planning, communications, quality control, payroll and finance.
The agreement was reached just hours before their general assembly and is designed to restore much of the purchasing power workers say they lost in recent years, protecting it until March 2031.
Background:
Under the proposed contract, employees would receive a 4.5 per cent salary increase on April 1, 2025, followed by a 2.9 per cent raise in 2026 and 2 per cent increases in each of the four subsequent years. The union says it also made progress on vacations and work schedules.
“We are proud of the work we accomplished,” said SPTP-SAQ–CSN president Steve D’Agostino in a press release. “This was the first time in our history that we exercised a strike. Our members were ready to fight, and this agreement would not have been possible without their determination. We hope the SAQ has taken note that technical and professional staff will never accept downgraded working conditions.”
Employees are expected to return to work gradually starting Friday morning.
