It’s been almost a full week since Montreal’s public transit network has been mostly paralyzed as over 2,400 maintenance workers are on strike – leaving Montrealers scrambling to find rides or spend big on cabs and Ubers. The Société de transport de Montréal (STM), and some politicians have accused the workers of “taking the population hostage” by cutting bus and metro service to rush hours only, while the union insists the strike is necessary as the employer is not negotiating in good faith. Union president Bruno Jeannotte says he never thought it would get to this point, and his hope was always to pressure the STM to avoid the strike altogether. Their action also coincides with the strike by bus and metro operators, who plan to go on strike for two full days on Nov. 15 and 16 over schedules and unpaid work. The two unions are negotiating separately. The issues at the core of the dispute for maintenance workers are subcontracting, overtime, and pay. Collective agreements expired last January and the union already held two strike actions in June and September. But since Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet passed a law allowing him to intervene and break strikes – which comes into effect Nov. 30 – the union felt the urgency to act now. Jeannotte says the new law would allow the government to impose an agreement between the parties – even if union members aren’t satisfied. Meanwhile, the STM laments being underfunded and says it must make difficult financial decisions. What’s wrong with subcontracting? The union has repeatedly said its core concern is that the STM is increasingly outsourcing maintenance workers, putting the job security of employees with seniority and protected by collective agreements at risk. Jeannotte says it also lowers the quality and reliability of public transportation for the public long term. “When we perform a mechanical task on the Montreal metro, we want to ensure that they will not break down during service,” he said. “Whereas when the goal is ultimately to make money, as we see in other transportation companies, they are significantly less reliable than us.” The STM wants to have “carte blanche” to use services other than those provided by its workers, he added. Jeannotte says these contracts can sometimes cost up to three times as much as it would to do the repairs in-house, but come from different budgetary envelopes. Unionized maintenance workers repair stations, buses and metros, but also the vehicles that transport operations managers and special constables – all vehicles used to travel throughout the metro network and transportation centres. Jeannotte says the STM likes to have subcontractors, often the lowest bidders, repair this type of equipment. “If we outsource the task to a private company or a subcontractor, objectively speaking, they must make money. That’s the very basis of a company. So, if it’s not profitable for us to do it in-house, how can it be profitable to outsource it, except by lowering the quality of maintenance, lowering the level that for us is a priority?” said Jeannotte. “If we are running a 60-year-old metro, it’s because we have maintained it properly. So we are concerned about this issue.” The STM says that there are duties performed internally that are “costly” and “do not fall within the STM’s core mission,” which it seeks to outsource. “Often, they duplicate services that the city already provides or that several private sector companies could provide at a lower cost,” it said in an email to CTV News. It added that it will make the “necessary assessments” and involve the union in the analysis process first. “If it is cheaper to do it internally, we will simply keep the tasks,” it said. But Jeannotte is skeptical and says the STM has outsourced contracts for $30,000 that could have been done internally for $8,000. He added that there were no studies showing that in-house work was less profitable. “I don’t know what to tell you, but the STM’s choices right now are a bit strange … how can we trust the employer right now with its requests when, despite the fact that it’s three times more expensive to outsource, it’s still outsourcing.” The ripple effect of job cuts Jeannotte says the transit agency is outsourcing maintenance for its paratransit fleet despite collective agreements in place and is closing one of its transportation centres as a result. “At the same time, the employer would also like to see flexibility in laying people off. But in the current context, that’s impossible,” said Jeannotte. When a transportation centre closes, unionized STM workers with seniority lose their good jobs. That’s the case for some paratransit mechanics who are likely to have their jobs cut in early 2026, said Jeannotte. The STM stresses that these workers are sent elsewhere in the company and aren’t fully laid off, but the union president says it leads to a chain reaction. “They’ll arrive at certain transportation centres saying, ‘I lost my job in paratransit. I’m coming to work with you now.’ The effect that has is certainly worrying. These are people with seniority who are losing their quality jobs, daytime jobs. So we’re also working to try to maintain quality jobs,” he explained. The STM announced last month that it is planning to cut 300 positions in its network, mainly by attrition. Jeannotte says these cuts create more overtime for other employees, which is another point of negotiation. Some employees would work 12-and-a-half-hour shifts or work 10 days in a row, he said. However, he added that the STM and the union were able to make concessions on scheduling. How does Quebec’s law play into the strike decisions? Though the STM insists it is “fully committed to the ongoing negotiations process,” Jeannotte accused the STM of not negotiating in good faith and of waiting for Quebec’s new labour law to go into effect. Labour Minister Jean Boulet said Wednesday he’d even consider moving the date the law goes into effect forward by two weeks. However, opposition parties said they would not support the move. “Now we’re in the other scenario, where the STM has every advantage not to budge,” said Jeannotte. “Why would the employer change his salary if he knows that in seven or eight days, there will be a law that will limit the right to strike?” He added that, if it wasn’t for this law, the union would have never launched a month-long strike. He said the union felt “stuck” after the minister openly said he could use his new powers on the STM workers. “I’ll be honest, I didn’t expect to get to the end of this strike mandate. I thought we would settle in the first week or during the grace period, because we sent our strike notice 10 days in advance,” said Jeannotte. “Historically, [the STM] would have said, ‘We have to find a solution,’ but now … why would it find a solution when my right to strike is going to be limited? … Now I see no way out.” The STM said if the parties do not reach an agreement quickly, “all options will be analyzed, including the appointment of a dispute arbitrator to reach a settlement.” On Wednesday, newly-elected Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada met with the STM and the union and urged them to find a resolution by Nov. 15. According to Jeannotte, she told both parties she thinks it’s worth negotiating. “We keep being told we’re taking the people hostage,” said Jeannotte. “But really, we feel we’re being held hostage by limiting our means of pressure.” What about salaries? The STM says its employees are among the best paid in the business and are the envy of other public transit agencies. “This is a testament to the good conditions we offer,” it said. “When compared to similar positions in the maintenance sector in the rest of the market, we see that maintenance jobs at the STM are better paid than elsewhere. Overall, the STM’s maintenance salary scales are 121 per cent of the average for comparators from the Institut statistique du Québec and 128 per cent of the average for similar positions in the public service,” it added. But Jeannotte counters that and says workers in Quebec City were able to negotiate better salary increases in negotiations last year. While the initial offer was 11 per cent over five years – the same as what STM workers are offered now – they were able to negotiate up to 18 per cent. “How can I convince 2,400 people at a general meeting that it will be 11 in Montreal, when the price of a house in Montreal is certainly different from the price of a house in Quebec City?” said Jeannotte. However, the STM has said it is facing an “unprecedented” financial crunch after under-investment from the provincial government. It promised to cut $100 million from its budget over three years, meaning it must reduce expenses by $56 million in 2026 without affecting services. Jeannotte said the government is prioritizing projects like the third link and the REM instead.
