PQ would work with CAQ to get STM workers back on the job

Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon says he would work with the Coalition Avenir Québec to force public transit employees back to work.

Parti Québécois (PQ) Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon says he is willing to work with the Coalition Avenir Québec (CAQ) to force public transit employees back to work by Nov. 15.

Société de transport de Montréal (STM) maintenance workers have been on strike for a week, limiting service to rush hours only.

Their strike mandate lasts until Nov. 28.

The union representing bus drivers and metro operators has another strike mandate for Nov. 15 and 16 after paralyzing the network Nov. 1.

Montreal Mayor Soraya Martinez Ferrada, elected last Sunday, urged the STM and unions to come to an agreement by Nov. 15.

Labour Minister Jean Boulet also said he would consider implementing his controversial law limiting strikes two weeks in advance to put an end to the STM workers’ pressure tactics.

The law, in which the minister can end negotiations and impose a resolution by decree, is scheduled to go into effect Nov. 30.

The PQ and Québec Solidaire have said they would not allow moving that date forward, but on Sunday St-Pierre Plamondon was changing his tune.

“For a few days we’ve been giving some time, some space for negotiations for a deal. We think at this stage that it’s not acceptable to take the population as hostage of a negotiation that obviously is not leading anywhere,” he told journalists Sunday.

He acknowledged that the CAQ’s anti-strike legislation led to the escalation of the STM’s conflict and said it has the adverse effect of stalling negotiations. He said employers don’t have incentive to show up at the bargaining table knowing the minister can unilaterally end strikes.

• READ MORE: Why are STM workers striking for nearly a month?

He said he expects the law to create more labour conflicts in the next year and promises his party would reverse course if elected.

Still, his party would collaborate with the CAQ for a back-to-work order.

St-Pierre Plamondon added that a PQ government would entrench public transportation as an essential service.

“We will not tolerate anymore that public transportations stop because of collective bargaining,” he said. “That doesn’t mean that there’s no right to negotiate and to strike, but the essential services to the population must not be taken away.”

The unions were at the bargaining table on Sunday and could not be reached.

The STM declined to comment on St-Pierre Plamondon’s remarks and said negotiations are ongoing “to reach an agreement as quickly as possible.”

With files from CTV News Montreal’s Stéphane Giroux