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There may be hope for the ski season at a popular resort northeast of Quebec City.
Management at Le Massif de Charlevoix and its striking unionized employees have been called to a meeting just one day after the resort announced the cancellation of its ski season.
“At the request of the chief conciliator and the conciliator, the parties were invited to a meeting,” president of Groupe Le Massif Claude Choquette wrote to Radio-Canada in a statement.
“The urgency of reaching a resolution by the end of the week remains unchanged.”
On Monday, Le Massif shuttered for the season after failing to come to an agreement with unionized employees on a new contract.
Union members have been on an unlimited general strike since Jan. 2 and rejected the employer’s offer to renew the collective agreement on Monday.
But Tuesday’s announcement, suggesting that a meeting between both parties could take place, may be grounds for optimism.
The union said it remained “hopeful” for a settlement.
The iconic ski resort in Quebec’s Charlevoix region has shut down the slopes for the season because of an ongoing workers’ strike. But there could be some hope ahead, as conciliators have invited the union and the ski hill operator to a meeting.
‘A big catastrophe,’ says mayor
Management had said that to ensure safe skiing conditions, Le Massif had to continue artificial snow-making by the end of the month and operations needed to resume as of Tuesday.
Since employees rejected both a contract offer and a proposal to go to arbitration, management said it made continuing the ski season unsustainable.
The collective agreement for the 300 employees expired on Dec. 31, with wages a main point of contention during negotiations.
In addition, the union also had demands regarding subcontracting, sick leave, safety and vacation time.
Serge Bilodeau, the mayor of Petite-Rivière-Saint-François — home to Le Massif — said the resort is the main moneymaker in the area.
“That’s a big catastrophe. That’s a big issue for the Charlevoix area,” he said. “The ski season is short and the day you lose, you can’t catch it back.”
Bilodeau said he will speak with the area’s tourism association and others, adding it’s “another story” if the two parties involved in the dispute don’t fix the situation.
Businesses, visitors left in limbo
Ori Reiss and his son travelled to Le Massif from Northwest London, U.K. this month and did not expect the ski season to end so soon.
“I think everyone here in the Club Med and generally in the resort is absolutely mortified,” said Reiss of the closure.
“I couldn’t believe that it had reached that level.”
Reiss pointed out that some people flew in from different parts of the world to visit Le Massif, including from countries as far away as Australia.
And now, not many options are left for Reiss’s son, who had planned to stay in the area and work as a ski instructor.
“There is no job anymore because it’s mid-season, all the ski schools have got … their instructors. All the staff accommodation is full,” said Reiss. “All the money that he spent to get here and have this dream season is unfortunately not going to happen.”
Mitchell Dion, general director of Tourisme Charlevoix, said he had hope that the issue would get resolved prior to the cancellation of the ski season.
He said as soon as the strike started, some businesses were already telling his group that they felt its impact, with several cancellations and tens of thousands of dollars in losses.
“This will be an opportunity for our teams to try to promote visiting Charlevoix in a different way,” said Dion, pointing to the area’s gastronomy and museums.
“We don’t want people to cancel, and I think there are plenty of other things to see.”
