Montreal’s Queen Elizabeth hotel to close over holidays amid labour dispute

Quebec’s largest hotel will close over the holidays due to an ongoing labour dispute.

The Fairmont Queen Elizabeth Hotel says it will close its doors temporarily, starting Dec. 21, because it can’t provide guests with its usual level of service.

The decision comes after the 950-room hotel locked out unionized employees last month, following their rejection of a contract proposal in part due to disagreement about the use of employment agencies.

The hotel says workers at more than 20 other Quebec hotels have accepted a similar offer, which includes a salary increase of 21 per cent over four years, with 10 per cent in the first year.

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The roughly 600 unionized workers at the Queen Elizabeth had organized a number of surprise strikes in recent months.

The union Thursday accused the hotel of using replacement workers, following the publication of a Labour Department report that found hotel employees performed the work of unionized workers during a strike in September.