montreal isn’t delivering on spring cleaning promise, opposition charges

the official opposition at city hall says montreal isn't making good on its promise to ramp up its spring cleaning effort this year.a month after it was set to begin, winter debris, including gravel on sidewalks and filth on streets, remains noticeable across the city, while a three-day strike by blue-collar workers — who are at an impasse with the city over contract negotiations — has seen a pause on street cleaning and garbage collection.montreal planned to start its spring cleaning operations two weeks early this year. in mid-march, the ensemble montréal administration announced it was adopting a new approach to cleanliness, promising to prioritize the issue to boost the city's appeal and restore montrealers' pride in it.ericka alneus, head of the projet montréal opposition at city hall, said in an interview on thursday that the city's announcement about making cleaning a priority "fell flat.""first and foremost, if you want to attain your objective, you have to make sure that you have the resources to make sure the city is clean, knowing the impact it has on montrealers," she said.  that's why the city needs to come to an agreement with those who actually carry out the work, said alneus, who described spring cleaning as a complex undertaking. "they came out really strong, saying: ‘we're starting two weeks early, we're going to put in the effort, we're going to do better than the former administration,’ but the thing is, these preparations take time," she said. "you need the manpower."

dave sidaway / montreal gazette

the union representing the city's more than 5,000 blue-collar workers, cupe local 301, has been without a contract since december 2024. this week's three-day strike followed a 24-hour strike held in february. on wednesday, union president jean-pierre lauzon said he wants the city to at least double its offer of an 11 per cent salary increase over five years for negotiations to move forward. (alneus noted the previous projet montréal administration had been discussing a 12.5 per cent increase.)asked whether pressure tactics by blue-collar workers were to blame for the delay on spring cleaning, alneus said she didn't think so."i think the blue collars care about their job, they care to do it properly," she said, noting they cleared the streets in the winter. now that it's springtime, she feels the administration may have underestimated "the conversation that needs to be had" to negotiate an agreement.earlier this month, la presse reported the tribunal administratif du travail intervened over illegal pressure tactics undertaken by blue-collar workers that could affect public services. the city had asked the tribunal to intervene.lauzon, meanwhile, said on wednesday workers aren't to blame for the state of the city. pointing out the strike began wednesday, he said blue-collar workers were "on the job" before that."the machines we have are outdated; they don’t work, and they break down all the time," he said. "blue-collar workers are ready to do the job, but if the city doesn’t invest in its fleet, we can’t ask blue-collar workers to do it on their own. they need to help us. our workers are there, day and night. they show up in the rain and in the snow. we aren’t the managers; the city is in charge.”

dave sidaway / montreal gazette

alneus said it's true there can be issues with machinery.in an email on thursday, the city said its spring cleaning operations were delayed by the weather. equipment was made available earlier than usual, it said, but in the end, weather conditions "were not favourable for a full-scale deployment.""some targeted work was carried out (early), but operations only truly got underway on march 30," city public relations officer guillaume rivest said in the email.that means the timeline resembles that of a typical year. rivest said the blitz usually unfolds over four to eight weeks, depending on the weather.asked about projet montréal's critiques on cleanliness thursday, mayor soraya martinez ferrada said the party "dropped the ball for the past eight years.""we have been picking up issues around having the right equipment, equipment that’s not up to the task, and the fact that they hired so many professionals and no blue-collars," she said. "we have a lack of people that we need to do the job." when asked about possible blue-collar pressure tactics, martinez ferrada said the workers maintained essential services during the strike, as agreed with the city. she did not specify which services.at a ville-marie borough council meeting earlier this week, martinez ferrada called spring cleaning an "immense, colossal challenge," noting the city has more than 200 kilometres of streets and 135 parks and public spaces.she added the city invested close to $32 million this year on its cleanliness action plan, repeating that despite the weather delays, "we have also started earlier this year."the city also secured a contract for the cleaning of public spaces downtown between april 15 and nov. 15, including dorchester, victoria and phillips squares and place du canada."we have said it: we're doing more for cleanliness," martinez ferrada said, adding it's important for montrealers to do their part by cleaning the areas in front of their homes, including the sidewalks."i think we can all do our part to help things move faster," she said. "it can’t just be the city’s responsibility — we need to start changing the culture around cleanliness here in montreal."kthomas@postmedia.com