Valérie Plante faces massive test with looming labour talks

A key plank of Mayor Valérie Plante’s 2017 election campaign platform that pledged to improve relations with municipal employees will be put to the test next month when the city sits down to contract talks with most of its unions.
It has been quiet on the labour front since Plante took office nine months ago, but the collective agreements of most of Montreal’s nearly 27,000 employees have expired since her election, or will expire on Dec. 31.
And while union officials say