Quebecor Receives Order to Reinstate Mirabel, Quebec, Printing Plant Workers

MIRABEL, QUEBEC—September 17, 2015—In a follow-up to the news story Printing Impressions published earlier this month of 44 Quebecor employees—press workers, mechanics, electricians and handlers—who were locked out of Quebecor's printing plant just north of Montreal, the Teamsters union representing the locked-out employees said that 13 of the 15 workers that were let go last January will be reinstated.

The Mirabel plant produces a number of newspapers that include Montréal French-language dailies Le Devoir and le Journal de Montréal.

According to CBC News, the Teamsters local said the employees will recover "hundreds of thousands of dollars" in salary and other benefits once the labor dispute ends. According to arbitrator Suzanne Moro, employees were covered under the worker-protection provisions of its collective contract.

CBC News reported that there could also be good news for the 35 workers who were also laid off by Quebecor due to lower printing volumes and the ending of commercial activities. The workers could also be reinstated if another arbitration process rules the same way.

Quebecor had responded in a news release stating that after months of negotiations failed to reach a new contract, the company did not have a choice.