SAQ union warns employees will strike all weekend if agreement is not reached

The union representing SAQ employees says workers will strike for three days straight this weekend if an agreement isn't reached today.

The Syndicat des employé-es de magasin et de bureau de la SAQ, which represents 5,500 workers, said the two sides are close to reaching a deal, but the union is waiting for "an acceptable salary offer."

"We have gone the extra mile in negotiating in order to come to an agreement, but for us to be able to meet in the middle, the SAQ has to do its share, including on the issue of salary," the CSN-affiliated union said Tuesday morning.

"We won't accept that are members get poorer because of increases in the consumer price index."

Union president Katia Lelièvre said negotiations could continue during the strike, which is planned from Friday to Sunday.

As soon as an agreement is reached, she added, the pressure tactics would stop.

"This strike could be avoided and the SAQ knows exactly what is left to resolve this conflict," Lelièvre said in the statement.