An arbitrator has ordered Montreal officers to pay for the removal of any labour-related stickers adorning their cruisers.
An arbitration tribunal has ruled that Montreal police officers must stop plastering their cruisers with labour-related stickers and also pay for the removal of current ones.
The stickers have been a staple on cars since July 2014 as a protest against a provincial law aimed at overhauling municipal pension plans.
The City of Montreal has removed many of them from police buildings but new ones have quickly replaced them.
It then went to the tribunal, arguing the officers' conduct amounted to expensive vandalism against its property.
The police brotherhood argued posting the stickers was a form of freedom of expression and that it did not affect how the officers did their jobs.
Arbitrator Nathalie Faucher ruled late last month there are limits to freedom of expression.
The stickers have been a staple on cars since July 2014 as a protest against a provincial law aimed at overhauling municipal pension plans.
The City of Montreal has removed many of them from police buildings but new ones have quickly replaced them.
It then went to the tribunal, arguing the officers' conduct amounted to expensive vandalism against its property.
The police brotherhood argued posting the stickers was a form of freedom of expression and that it did not affect how the officers did their jobs.
Arbitrator Nathalie Faucher ruled late last month there are limits to freedom of expression.
- The Canadian Press