Longueuil bus drivers reach agreement, avoid strike

Signs are held by Réseau de transport de Longueuil (RTL) bus drivers as they participate in a worker action organized by Le Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique (SCFP), while the union and management engage in bargaining, in Longueuil, Que., on Thursday, July 3, 2025. (Christopher Katsarov/The Canadian Press)

An agreement has been reached to renew the collective agreement for the 731 bus drivers of the Longueuil Transit Network (RTL).

The local branch of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), affiliated with the FTQ, announced on Wednesday that the parties had reached a tentative settlement in mediation.

No details of the agreement will be made public until the union members have had a chance to review it. The agreement must be ratified at a general meeting.

The tentative settlement agreement rules out the issuance of a new strike notice.

A drivers’ strike was planned for this week, but it was cancelled after the Administrative Labour Tribunal suspended it, ruling that the essential services proposed by the union were insufficient.

The RTL bus drivers’ union had warned on Friday that it would issue a new strike notice, with essential services, but as of Tuesday, this had not yet been done.

The majority of union members had voted in favour of a mandate for pressure tactics, including strike action.

- With information from Lia Lévesque

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Sept. 10, 2025.