MONTREAL – On December 3, 2013, Local 262 of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees (IATSE/AIEST) was certified as the bargaining agent for the 75 employees who work at the Ste-Foy Cinema in the City of Québec. Discussions for the first collective agreement began on March 5, 2014 and are still underway to this day. Conciliation has been unsuccessful and the arbitration process which began on February 27, 2015 is still ongoing. For the past 15 months, working conditions have not changed and wages still range between minimum wage ($10.55) and $11.00 after five years of service. The vast majority of employees are working for minimum wage or 5 cents above the minimum!

The employer is stubbornly offering the same wage that is offered to non-union workers. Furthermore, the employer has multiplied the number of obstacles and legal disputes as a way of needlessly prolonging the arbitration process towards reaching a first collective agreement.

This is all taking place in a context where the employer’s revenues and profits are increasing and during a year that is seeing industry blockbusters like Fifty Shades of Grey, Insurgent, Fast and Furious 7, Avengers and Jurassic World. And this is without accounting for upcoming releases like The Maze Runner, Spectre (James Bond), The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 2 and Star Wars.

So while Cineplex enjoys maximum revenues, its employees continue to work for minimum wages. We vigorously denounce the position Cineplex has taken and we fully intend to obtain decent wages for employees at Colossus cinema.