Montreal blue-collar workers will begin a series of rotating strikes on Monday. (CBC)

Snow-removal services could be stalled in some Montreal boroughs as the city’s blue-collar workers' union begins a series of rotating strikes Monday.

On Friday, Quebec's Essential Services Council approved the union's plan, which includes clearing snow only when an accumulation of more than nine centimetres is forecast.

The council rejected the city's demand that the threshold be set at 2.5 cm.

The city is disappointed by the ruling, said Michael Applebaum, Montreal's executive committee member responsible for snow removal.

"We will not cede to the demands or the pressure tactics of the [union]," Applebaum said.

City officials will take steps to make sure there is no danger to the public, said the city's director of snow removal services, Yves Girard.

"We have different city managers that have their licence to drive certain equipment," Girard said. The union representing the city’s 5,000 blue-collar workers announced this month that it will hold 40 days of job action.

The strikes are expected to rotate through each of the city’s districts until March 5.

The workers have been without a contract for more than two years.

The union and the city are at odds over salaries and sub-contracting. The workers are asking for a salary increase of 10 per cent over four years. They are also demanding the city cut back on subcontracting to private firms.