Laval bus drivers ready for another strike

Laval bus drivers on strike Bus drivers employed by the Société de transport de Laval (STL) are on strike.

Bus drivers at the Laval Transport Society (STL) say they are ready to strike again as negotiations to renew their collective agreement drag on.

They have not yet decided on a strike mandate, but a survey to which 473 of the 625 drivers responded, and which The Canadian Press was able to consult, indicates that 87 per cent of them are ready to hold more strike days, while 74 per cent are ready for an unlimited strike.

STL drivers already held strike days last November.

The collective agreement for the 625 STL bus drivers,

members of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), affiliated with the QFL, expired in August 2019.

The STL explains that, like all public transit companies, its revenues were greatly affected by the drop in ridership caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

CUPE, on the other hand, points out that activity has now resumed, and their drivers want wage increases that take into account the recent inflation surge.

In an interview Thursday, CUPE economist Pierre-Guy Sylvestre warned that if STL drivers do not get such increases, the union will consult its members on another strike mandate in about two weeks.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on March 31, 2022.