Montreal police protest lack of contract

Officers wear read hats, buttons to draw attention to slow negotiations

Montreal police officers are swapping their standard blue hats for red ones to protest the fact that they are still without a contract with the city.

As of 3 p.m. yesterday, officers began to wear red hats and red dress pins with their uniforms. They also put flags with the union logo on their vehicles.

Under essential service legislation, the city’s 4,500 officers are unable to strike and must resort to alternative methods to get their message across. Montreal officers have been without a contract since Jan. 1, 2011.

The last time Montreal police negotiated a new contract, they had gone without one for over three years. It wasn’t until two years without a contract that they decided to start similar tactics to the one they began yesterday.

Police representatives have been quiet about union demands, but Montreal police fraternity president Yves Francoeur hinted to the Montreal Gazette that cuts to the department's budget remains a key issue in relations with the city.

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