The Common Front unions are to vote on an agreement in principle starting on January 15. Students are back to class this week although there are concerns about some falling behind after the interruption of the school year.
Updates from January, 2024 Toggle Comment Threads | Keyboard Shortcuts
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Kate
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Kate
The recent snowfall is pretty modest in comparison to most Montreal Januaries, but it has nonetheless sparked a travel advisory from Environment Canada. We’re to expect more snow midweek, although the forecast suggests we may get rain on Wednesday.
Update: A little more on the uncertain precipitation expected Tuesday and Wednesday.
Blork
If I were a fan of winter sports I would be taking this very personally. “Two weeks of greyness and grimness and on the last day of my vacation you bring THIS?” (Shakes fist at clouds.)
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Kate
Shortly before Christmas, one of the partners at the local fruiterie told me gloomily to expect the closure of a lot of the independent businesses in the neighbourhood in the new year. Like many others, his store is at grips with rising rent, while his clientele has dwindled since the pandemic began. So many people set up food deliveries then and continue to rely on them, meaning they don’t resort so often to the corner store. And of course he hears things as he visits wholesalers and talks to others in the trade.
News keeps coming (although some of this is repeated from earlier) of restaurant and boutique closures, which begins to bear out Ali’s bleak prediction.
DisgruntledGoat
I feel like small businesses are in a larger societal death spiral. Grocery delivery was very low quality service during the early pandemic, but now services like IGA’s Voila are (I hate to say it) good for a large amount of recurring pantry and fresh products.
As a worker somewhere between low and medium income, with a rent that has skyrocketed, those 2-3 hours saved per week make a material difference in quality of life as I continue on the treadmill of working more to make ends meet.
It just feels like an acceleration on a larger scale in society and many local businesses will take the hit for it.
Jonathan
We’ve lost a lot of density over the years too. With Plex conversions, demographics of smaller households and Airbnb emptying out other houses. All this with more cars and developments like Costco and Walmart and then the dwindling (if not already non existent) neighbourhood -focused bus service, how can small businesses survive? We are still working with the commercial/retail space we’ve had since the 50s.
Chris
Costco and Walmart are the past. Now everyone just orders everything, including groceries, on Amazon. You only need to visit one website, instead of hunting around many stores.
Jonathan
Why did they just open a gigantic new Walmart off the 40 then? Boomers like my parents don’t order groceries online is my impression. They still go to stores IRL.
Kate
I don’t know anyone who orders groceries off Amazon.
I could get by with a weekly order from Lufa, but there are things I like from half a dozen real stores that I would miss. Maybe some folks can manage with a weekly Voilà order.
Chris
I didn’t mean ‘everyone’ literally. But enough that it’s contributing to the decline of local small businesses.
Phil
And something will take the place of them. I can remember as a child, how there were people at the supermarket who would bag your purchases for you. Then it stopped. And now it is back.
I can remember as a young adult, being able to order beer and cigarettes from the local depanneur. Then it stopped. Now it is back.
My grandparents and parents complained about rising prices. Welcome to being an adult.
Catch up on your Heraclitus: The only constant is change.
Kate
Phil, I realize everything changes, but the tendency when commercial rents are rising like this is for only big chains to be able to thrive, pushing out the smaller more varied businesses that make neighbourhoods interesting. If every commercial street is the same, if every café is a Starbucks, every restaurant a McDonalds, every dep a Couche‑Tard, every meal chicken nuggets and fries, I don’t want to live on this planet any more.
Ian
Even the big chains are having a tough time, all the Starbucks closed around me and are now Columbus chain cafés. Columbus is a continental French take on the PNW, it’s a facsimile of a facsimile. I think that’s the Baudrillardian stage of masking the absence of basic reality?
Admittedly I do Lufa for produce but for the daily grocery I’m always at one of the smaller local shops, with a one-a-week trip to the big Maxi. I think Lufa is an exception to the deliveries are bad for local business rule in that they are using urban space for farming which is not only a great alternate use of space but also provides decent local jobs.
CE
I think Starbucks is a bad example. It’s seen in a different light here than in other places and it’s not a positive light. My work brings me into contact with people from lots of places and many people comment on how few Starbucks (and international chains in general) we have here compared to where they’re from (they generally see this as a good thing).
Ephraim
I likely buy more groceries than most people. Online grocery shopping is AWFUL. It’s unreliable and much more expensive. But I usually manage with one weekly visit to at least 2 different stores, though Maxi does match prices, but with limited quantities. And Costco beats that sometimes.
If I order something at Walmart, for example, there is no way to really know if they have stock. And if they don’t, they want to be able to substitute, but they don’t substitute at the sale price. NOPE! If I order the Generic “Toasted O” 525g cereal on sale for $4.97 and you don’t have it, I should be getting the branded 570g $4.97. Or a raincheck for the $4.97 box. But they can’t handle a raincheck online like that. I in certain categories, they limit me to 10 of an item. That’s the online limit… 10. And stores that do price-match, won’t price-match online orders. Heck, some of them won’t price-match if you use the self check-out.
For example, this week, Maxi has $3.66 for 1.5 dozen eggs (so $2.44 a dozen). If this was the summer, I would have a fridge full! No one beats that price this week! In the summer, I can go through a gross in a week
Ian
That’s a lot of eggs! I have to watch my cholesterol so I’m glad someone is out there picking up my slack in that regard.
dhomas
Another one bites the dust:
https://montrealgazette.com/news/local-news/n-d-g-landmark-momessos-restaurant-is-closing;(
steph 11:38 on 2024-01-08 Permalink
2023 6.0%, 2024 2.8% 2025 2.6%, 2026 2.5% & 2027 3.5%.
The CPI protection clauses that they fought hard to get are only for the 3rd-5th year and capped at 1%.
Attention Éric Gingras, président de la CSQ: «ce 6% est quand même une première depuis une quarantaine d’années au Québec» is garbage and shove it up your a$$. Am I the only one that thinks the union leaders are corrupt and complicit in neo-liberalism? Union reps will have some pirouettes to do and clown makeup to wear if they expect their members to accept this.
Uatu 17:43 on 2024-01-08 Permalink
I can already see tidal wave of retirements coming.. along with eff-u themed parties.
Ian 19:26 on 2024-01-08 Permalink
Wealthy wanted 20 and the government wanted to give us 9 – plus we got our pensions from getting rolled back. The 1% is small beans but it beats nothing – we never had CI before. And now the employer will be paying into health insurance for the first time in my sector …
Overall it’s not bad, I don’t see the outrage. It’s sure better than last time we went on strike.
Ian 19:33 on 2024-01-08 Permalink
*well they not wealthy