Ben's Delicatessen & Restaurant

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Ben's is a landmark Jewish-style delicatessen ("deli") in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It has become famous for its smoked meat sandwiches. (The business is legally called "Bens" due to Quebec's "French face" sign laws.)

1 History
2 Labour relations
3 Links
- 3.1 The Gazette, Montreal
- 3.2 Others

[edit] History

"Bens" has been located at the corner of Metcalfe and de Maisonneuve in Montreal since 1950.

Ben Kravitz first opened a deli on "the Main", Saint Lawrence Boulevard (Boulevard Saint-Laurent as it is designated now) in 1908.

Former owner Irving Kravitz died in 1992, and since then it has been operated by his wife Jean and his son.

[edit] Labour relations

In July 2006, Ben's 22 unionized workers, including waitstaff, busboys and short order cooks went on strike. They had been without a labour contract since February of that year. Workers and management met on 24 July for conciliation talks with union representatives, the lawyer for the union and a conciliator present.

The average wage at Ben's is $8.00 CDN an hour. Workers are seeking better conditions of work, a rise in wages, and benefits including severance and retirement payments. Employee spokepeople say the air conditioning that broke in 2005 has remained unrepaired. They also say that in winter the heating is so inadequate that waiters sometime wear coats while serving.

News items in December 2006 revealed that the owners are considering five proposals, two to renovate, two to demoliah, and only one to re-open.

The owners refused to comment.