Couche-Tard's Union Troubles Continue

MONTREAL -- A Couche-Tard convenience store situated at the corner of Jean-Talon Boulevard East and Iberville Street here was shuttered late Thursday afternoon. The move came just hours after unionized employees enacted pressure tactics to bolster contract talks, according to CBC News. The tactics reportedly included employees wearing union stickers on their uniforms.

One employee told the news outlet that when he showed up for his evening shift, the manager told him all employees had two minutes to gather their personal belongings.

This is not the first Couche-Tard location to close since the union movement. In May, the CSN labor organization filed a complaint with the Quebec Labour Relations Commission against the c-store operator alleging it closed a store on St. Denis Street in April because employees were seeking to unionize. Employees of the St. Denis location applied for union accreditation in March. They got it April 12, six days after the store closed. The location had recently been renovated and expanded, and did good business, according to the CSN.

However, for its part, Couche-Tard said at the time of the April closing that the store was not profitable and there was no other choice but to "go ahead with its immediate closure."

This long-standing union fight began in January when the CSN labor organization formed the first union at a north end Couche-Tard store located in Montreal. The union push came with demands for better working conditions for employees, as CSNews Online previously reported.