Montreal public transit maintenance workers vote in favour of strike mandate

A direction sign to the Metro subway, is seen in Montreal on Tuesday, June 18, 2019. Montreal says public transit trips were up between 15 and 20 per cent among people age 65 and over in the six months after it made the service free for local seniors. (Paul Chiasson/The Canadian Press)

Some 2,400 maintenance workers at the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) voted in favour of a strike mandate that could go as far as an unlimited general strike, the Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) announced on Sunday.

Workers are calling for a halt to subcontracting and privatization, improved family-work balance and measures to attract and retain staff, the CSN said in a news release.

“The employer must stop outsourcing and work with us to improve our working conditions and wages. More and more people are leaving for other sectors. We need to reverse this trend as quickly as possible,” said union president Bruno Jeannotte.

“We’re facing a number of challenges and we want to be part of the solution. The STM runs every day thanks to the expertise of its maintenance employees,” he added.

The union says it decided to increase the pressure tactics because it does not “feel that the STM is willing to move forward.”

“The union has been negotiating with the STM for almost a year, and little progress has been made. The law provides for a limited period of time to reach a negotiated agreement in the municipal sector. The employer has made a number of demands for a setback, including the creation of atypical working hours and the relocation of staff,” said the CSN.

Dominique Daigneault, president of the Conseil central du Montréal métropolitain, called on the STM to “move up a gear” and “give mandates for negotiations to progress if it wants to avoid a strike.”

In the same release, the Fédération des employées et employés de services publics (FEESP-CSN) called on the government to increase funding for public transport.

“These negotiations are taking place in a complex context. The government and the transport companies are passing the buck on responsibility for funding public transport. Another path is possible: investing in public transport to promote the ecological transition and preserve sustainable jobs,” says Simon Mathieu Malenfant, vice-president treasurer of the FEESP-CSN.

These 2,400 workers are mechanics and employees in bus and metro maintenance services in Montreal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French Feb. 16, 2025.