IATSE Local 56 announced that it was awarded certification of Montreal’s Arena des Canadiens, home of the Montreal Canadiens hockey team. The local had an agreement with the Bell Centre for all theatrical events at the stadium for some time, and had been supplying crews for hockey games under that agreement, but recently, issues arose on calls for hockey games. Both the hockey team and the arena claimed they were not the employer, and that the agreement did not cover the work.
In response, Local 56, with the assistance of the International Defense Fund filed an application for certification, originally naming the Montreal Canadiens hockey team as the employer. However, the parties reached an agreement on the certification and the Arena des Canadiens was named instead. Local 56 was then able to negotiate a new collective agreement. The agreement eliminates any holes in the bargaining rights enjoyed by the local for all work at the arena.
The 21,273-seat hockey arena, which opened in 1996 as the Molson Centre, is a centrepiece of Montreal’s entertainment scene, hosting WWE matches, major concert tours and of course, as the home of the Montreal Canadiens.
