STM strike: food service for the homeless testifies before the Tribunal

A Société de transport de Montréal (STM) mechanic protests outside their facility in Montreal on Monday, Sept. 22, 2025. (THE CANADIAN PRESS/Christinne Muschi)

Before the Administrative Labour Tribunal on Monday, several groups expressed concern about the lack of service planned during the planned bus drivers’ and metro operators’ strike on Nov. 15 and 16, while the STM argued for maintaining service during peak hours.

The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) is requesting for this strike that the same three time slots already in place for the maintenance employees’ strike be maintained: three hours in the morning, three hours in late afternoon, and two hours late in the evening.

READ MORE: More than just pay: Why are STM workers striking for nearly a month?

The local section of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), affiliated with the FTQ and representing 4,500 bus drivers and metro operators, is asking that there be no metro or bus service during the two strike days, a Saturday and a Sunday, as was the case during its first strike day on Nov. 1.

Judge Karine Blouin heard arguments from both sides on Monday to determine whether essential services should be maintained on those two days.

Groups express concern

Called as a witness by the STM, Jean-Sébastien Patrice, executive director of the organization MultiCaf, described “a very big impact” on the vulnerable people his organization serves.

MultiCaf offers a community grocery program and meals to people living below the poverty line, some of whom do not speak French or English, Patrice explained.

He told the tribunal that his clients were caught off guard during the first strike day on Nov. 1, when there was no bus or metro service. Usually, about 500 people come to the organization on Saturdays. That day, only around 50 showed up.

On some weekdays during the maintenance workers’ strike, when essential services were limited to peak hours, the organization saw lineups lasting up to an hour and a half. As a result, some people left without being served because they had to catch a bus or metro before essential services ended, Patrice testified.

Other organizations also submitted written statements to the tribunal expressing concern:

• Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), which runs the city’s airports
• The Société du Parc Jean-Drapeau, which manages the park on Île Sainte-Hélène
• Trajectoire Québec, a transit advocacy group
• The Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), which oversees regional transit planning
• The Autorité régionale de la santé publique, the regional public health authority
• The Fédération de l’âge d’or de Montréal, a seniors’ advocacy group (FADOQ)

These groups did not testify in person.

Seniors’ group worried

Rosée Tremblay, executive director of the FADOQ’s Montreal region, told reporters that many seniors are very worried about the upcoming strike, since the union does not plan to provide essential services.

“We consider access to transportation to be an essential need. And we want to defend the fact that people feel insecure. They need access to food services, pharmacies, medical appointments and other activities. Two days without any means of transport is unacceptable for seniors,” she said.

“When it comes to caregivers visiting someone who is in a vulnerable health situation and cannot get around, if the caregiver’s only means of transportation is the bus or metro, they can’t go to help or receive help,” Tremblay added.

She reported that “we get calls practically every day. These aren’t scientific statistics, but within our team, we talk about it: almost one call out of two mentions the negative effects of the strike.”

The union emphasized that the right to strike is constitutionally protected and that the tribunal’s decision on essential services should be based on the criteria of public health and safety.

Judge Blouin will issue her decision “as quickly as possible.”

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