Locked out Journal de Montreal staff ramp up pressure with print version of Rue Frontenac paper

It won't be the first time that a new print publication emerged from a labour-management dispute. But the announcement is that Rue Frontenac, a newspaper published by locked-out workers of the Journal de Montreal is augmenting its online self with a weekly print version starting next month. According to a story in the Gazette, the online site emerged a week after the January 24, 2009 lockout by Quebecor of 253 members of the Syndicate des travailleurs de l'information.

The new paper will be launched even though a mediator appointed less than a month ago by the Quebec Labour Department continues attempts to help settle the dispute, said Richard Bousquet, vice-president of the union's editorial component....

The new Rue Frontenac tabloid will start at 48 pages with a press run of at least 50,000 copies - although "probably more than that" - and offer a considerably broader variety of content than ruefrontenac.com, Bousquet said.
Special investigative features, analysis and columns will augment news, sports, business and culture coverage, he added.

The paper will be distributed across the Montreal region, from St. Jerome, north of Montreal Island, to St. Jean sur Richelieu to the south and be be handed out in person at street corners in central Montreal and elsewhere by locked-out workers aiming to bring attention to the dispute. Bousquet acklowledges that the printed version, like the website, is "a pressure tactic".