Mccord Museum Dept: As I drew closer, I noticed about a dozen men and women pacing the sidewalk, holding up union placards, chanting and asking onlookers to sign their petition. Clearly a strike was brewing in downtown Montreal. But not just any strike -these were the employees of one of Montreal's oldest and most beloved restaurants: Bens Delicatessen, according to Montreal Gazette. And now, for the first time in 98 years, it was closed. Unionized 1994, the employees went on strike in July 2006 asking for modest salary adjustments and improved working conditions which included the purchase of a new toaster and better heating in winter and it was a sweltering summer day in 2006. I was walking near the McCord Museum, where I work. Turning on de Maisonneuve Blvd., a brouhaha caught my attention a few blocks away. Founded in 1908 by Lithuanian immigrant Ben Kravitz, it quickly became a legend, a place that every smoked-meat lover or tourist had to visit at least once. Relocated in the 1950s to the corner of Metcalfe and de Maisonneuve Sts., its kitsch interior hadn't changed much: yellow and green Formica tables, walls covered with autographed portraits of celebrities, and retro-style stools and counters. As
reported in the news.
@t de maisonneuve blvd, salary adjustments
8.1.11
