No bus, metro service this weekend due to drivers’ union strike

The Montreal public transit strike ended after the union agreed to go back to work and back to the negotiating table.

Montreal commuters will have to do without public transit this weekend.

The Administrative Labour Tribunal on Wednesday evening authorized the STM drivers’ union to hold a 48-hour strike, meaning there will be no bus or metro service from 4 a.m. on Nov. 15 to 3:59 a.m. on Nov. 17 if no agreement is reached between the union and the STM.

Paratransit service, however, will continue without any impact on service.

The union previously held a one-day strike on Oct. 31 that shut down STM service.

The late-night ruling comes one the same day that the union representing maintenance workers halted their strike. That union had adopted a strike mandate from Nov. 1 to 28, limiting service to rush hours only.

But as of 6 a.m. on Wednesday, service gradually resumed, before operations return to normal on Thursday.

The tribunal’s ruling Wednesday evening noted that it had considered feedback from various stakeholders who would be affected, including the Montreal-Trudeau airport, Montreal Public Health, and others, but ultimately decided that the limited services provided for in the agreement were sufficient.

“The Tribunal considers that the issues and concerns raised by the various stakeholders are important, but do not constitute a danger to public health or safety,” it stated in a news release.

“Thus, the evidence does not show that the interruption of STM services for a weekend, with the exception of paratransit, represents a clear, imminent, and real threat to the life, safety, health, or security of the population.”

Maintenance workers halt strike, CAQ tables back-to-work legislation

Meanwhile, the maintenance workers’ Confédération des syndicats nationaux (CSN) affiliated union, which is separate from the bus drivers and Metro operators, said negotiations had progressed in the last few days.

However, with the government passing legislation to force them back to work, it says the STM has since stalled and has no incentive to bargain.

“The government is undermining our negotiations by underfunding public transit. It is adding to the problem with Law 14. By suspending the strike, we want to ensure that the law is not applied immediately,” said union president Bruno Jeannotte in a news release.

The union says the STM “remains inflexible and insensitive to the impact of the strike on the public” and maintains “that would result in setbacks for its employees.”

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

The union says it had wanted to prevent Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet from implementing his strike-breaking legislation early and forcing a resolution.

But, Boulet said on Wednesday he would go ahead with his special law project anyways, pointing to the scheduled bus and metro operators strike.

However, he needs the support of opposition parties. Québec Solidaire did not agree to fast-track the law.

The maintenance workers’ union says it wants a negotiated agreement, not one imposed by the minister.

“We were certain we had a window of opportunity for a settlement. Minister Boulet and the CAQ government gave the STM more reasons to stay frozen,” said Jeannotte.

“Over the past few weeks, we have asked the union to end its strike. I am pleased that customers can once again enjoy regular service and that they can count on the STM to resume its daily activities,” said Marie-Claude Léonard, STM executive director.

The company maintains that it has “presented three comprehensive offers, including a salary increase based on cost-saving measures that respect the financial framework. The union has rejected all of these offers.”

Montreal mayor-elect Soraya Martinez Ferrada posted on social media that she was happy the union suspended its strike as “the impacts on the daily lives of Montrealers were becoming unbearable.”

She added that “the best agreements are negotiated at the table” and that both parties should negotiate in good faith.