STM workers warn of strike this fall if negotiations drag on
The threat of another public transit strike looms this fall.
Workers for the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) protested the sluggish contract negotiations outside the Youville maintenance garage on St-Laurent Blvd. on Thursday at noon, warning the 2,400 maintenance staff are prepared to walk out again if their demands aren't met.
A maintenance worker in the STM's steam department, Jacqueline Maye, said that since the last strike in June, there have been nine negotiation meetings between the employer and the Syndicat du transport de Montréal. Even though a mediator has facilitated the meetings, she said 'nothing is moving forward.'
'Nobody wants to go on strike, but going on strike is the only way we can be heard,' Maye said at the transit workers' protest. She noted employees are limited in what they can do during a strike because they are considered an essential service, and that the parameters of a future strike would be similar to the last one.
The nine-day STM strike last month caused major disruptions for transit users: bus and métro services were completely cut at certain times and reduced at others, forcing commuters to find another way to work, school and home. Union president Bruno Jeanotte said even though the strike heavily impacted Montrealers, working conditions still haven't improved.
'We saw that the impact of striking was very minimal at the negotiation table,' he told reporters at the protest Thursday.
'We are nine days into full negotiations with the employer. We still haven't received the employer's priorities,' Jeanotte said, adding that the union representatives made their demands clear at the first meeting.
A major sticking point is the STM outsourcing maintenance work from the private sector, which Maye worries could lead to job cuts.
'We have all of the professionals here right on place to do the job, and at the end of the day, it ends up being cheaper,' she said.
Warehouse assistant Marie-Ange Museghe, who has been working in STM's bus parts supply department for two decades, said there is a risk the STM will change her working hours if the union doesn't succeed in the negotiations.
'Right now, I start at 7 a.m. and work until 3 p.m., and if we switch, I might have to work until 6 p.m. and I might have to go to places where it's harder for me to get to than where I've been,' she said in an interview. 'It'll be hard to balance work and family. My hours won't be possible,' adding that the schedule change could push her to leave her job.
In response to the protest, STM spokesperson Amélie Régis wrote they believe negotiations are moving in the right direction.
'We are fully respecting the agreed deadlines and continuing our work in a reasoned and constructive manner,' she wrote in an email statement to The Gazette.
'Since the end of the strike and the appointment of the mediator, meetings have been taking place at the rate of two to three days a week,' she said, noting there are three meetings this week and there are three planned for next week, with a three-week summer break scheduled for the end of July during the mediator's vacation.
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