Patrick LeLann has been wearing a dress on the job to draw attention to what he says is discrimination against male employees.
LeLann has worked as a food inspector in Montreal for 26 years. The single father says he wants to take early retirement to spend more time with his two young children.
[font=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]His union's collective agreement says women can take retirement after 25 years of service, but that men have to work 30 years.
LeLann says that's not fair, and he's been trying different ways to protest against the situation.
"I started to wear a dress to protest. Another day I went to work with my kids and put some signs on my truck," LeLann says he parked his truck in front of Montreal's city hall during his lunch hour.
LeLann says city officials ordered him not to wear his dress anymore.
[/font][font=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]The union can't do anything about the retirement rules, says Daniel Papillon-Demers, president of the Syndicat des Fonctionnaires Municipaux de Montréal, LeLann's union. The union says it will help LeLann if his dress-wearing gets him into trouble.
"We'll defend him as long as his actions are legal," Papillon-Demers says.
http://montreal.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=qc_dress20040723
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LeLann has worked as a food inspector in Montreal for 26 years. The single father says he wants to take early retirement to spend more time with his two young children.
[font=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]His union's collective agreement says women can take retirement after 25 years of service, but that men have to work 30 years.
LeLann says that's not fair, and he's been trying different ways to protest against the situation.
"I started to wear a dress to protest. Another day I went to work with my kids and put some signs on my truck," LeLann says he parked his truck in front of Montreal's city hall during his lunch hour.
LeLann says city officials ordered him not to wear his dress anymore.
[/font][font=verdana,arial,helvetica,sans-serif]The union can't do anything about the retirement rules, says Daniel Papillon-Demers, president of the Syndicat des Fonctionnaires Municipaux de Montréal, LeLann's union. The union says it will help LeLann if his dress-wearing gets him into trouble.
"We'll defend him as long as his actions are legal," Papillon-Demers says.
http://montreal.cbc.ca/regional/servlet/View?filename=qc_dress20040723
[/font]
