Human Flower Project
‘Manifestation’ in Montreal—Benign or Belligerent?
As workers in Montreal marched on city hall yesterday, some news sources missed the point of their floral demonstration.
Leaving wreaths
at Montreal City Hall
Photo: Radio Canada
Relations between Montreal authorities and the city’s “cols bleus”—blue collar workers— have been described variously as “strained,” “calm,” “angry.” Adjectives aside for the moment, consider that 1000 workers gathered yesterday at Lafontaine Park and marched to city hall, with flowers.
The high temperature yesterday in Montreal was 28 degrees F., not exactly prime conditions for a stroll or outdoor bouquets. What gives?
The workers, we’ve since learned, have been pressing for a new contract with the city of Montreal since at least 2004, when negotiations broke down. The union asked for an arbitrator to be brought in, but when the arbitrator sided with the city, imposing the existing contract, union members took their case to court. They lost and then appealed.
In a 2-1 verdict, “the appeals court ruled the contract would remain valid, apart from one clause dealing with the harmonization of working conditions, which will be stricken....That means the contract, which was imposed on the blue-collars union in October 2004, will remain valid until August 2007.”
To make matters worse for the cols bleus, the city recently reported results of its secret investigation of work crews. According to CBC News, the city snoops “found the blue-collar workers spent most of their shifts on coffee break and aimlessly driving around the city.” The union has called the report “a smear campaign.”
Yesterday, in front of the hotel de ville, the cols bleus responded with flowers. But what did the flowers say? News sources were in wild disagreement.
According to CBC news, “The hundreds of workers marched calmly from Lafontaine Park to city hall. They then spread hundreds of roses across the front steps of Montreal’s city hall.” This source interpreted the floral gesture as conciliatory, “a message of good faith for labour negotiations.”
Others saw things quite differently. Presse Canadienne reported, “The demonstrators met at Lafontaine Park and walked to city hall where they deposited a funeral wreath which symbolized the climate at work.”
And en francais, here’s the same story from The Journal de Montreal’s website: “Plus de 2000 d’entre eux ont manifesté dans le calme, mardi, et ont déposé des couronnes mortuaires devant le bureau des relations de travail de Montréal et à l’hôtel de ville pour illustrer le mauvais état des relations avec l’administration municipale.” Note that this account also doubles the number of marchers, to more than 2000.
Thank to this Montreal blog we found a fuzzy photo from a local radio station (above), and indeed, these look like funeral wreaths. Not just one, but at least two, and perhaps many more. Nos amis canadiens, please send us better pictures! One of these arrangements seems an emblem of some kind. Can any of our readers decipher this message better or give us a more accurate report?
The acrimony between les cols bleus and city officials just doesn’t lend itself to long stemmed roses. “Blue Collar Workers Deliver Flowers to City Hall” (the CBC headline) is, in our view, misleading. Rather these wreaths seem apt expressions of a business relationship that’s gone lifeless. The couronnes mortuaires convey the union’s solidarity and humor, with perhaps a shade of menace.