Bus and metro service is set to continue in Montreal this weekend after the city’s public transit network reached a last-minute, tentative deal with its drivers’ union, averting planned strike action.
The strike was set to begin early Saturday and last until Monday, but the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) says it reached a tentative deal late Friday, meaning regular bus and metro service will continue this weekend.
The union has said working conditions for drivers have deteriorated. In a statement, union head Frederic Therrien said the deal meets their goal of resolving the conflict at the bargaining table.
“Our goal was to reach a negotiated agreement, and we have achieved it,” he said. “Now it will be up to the members to decide through the democratic structures provided for in our bylaws and regulations.”
The STM is considered an “essential service” according to the website and the transit service says all measures were taken to ensure swift action.
Essential services are those deemed necessary to protect public health and safety and must be maintained during a labour dispute (strike). Although going on strike is a union prerogative, the STM and the union in question have held discussions on the services to be maintained,” the company’s website read.
This agreement was then reviewed and approved by the Tribunal administratif du travail (TAT).
Therrien said there will be no further comment until the deal has been ratified by the union’s roughly 4,500 bus drivers, metro operators and station agents.
Marie-Claude Léonard, CEO of the Société de transport de Montréal, said in a statement the agreement includes compromises on all sides.
“We have reached a tentative agreement that includes compromises on all sides and, most importantly, respects the established financial framework.”
“I would like to thank all the teams for their work,” she said in French. “This important milestone also means that we can avoid another strike and significant impacts on the public, as requested by Mayor Martinez Ferrada.”
Meanwhile, the union representing about 1,300 administrative, technical and professional employees has said its members plan to strike for two days beginning Wednesday.
Quebec’s labour tribunal has ruled that 33 members must be available Nov. 19 to maintain public health and safety in the network.
Earlier this week, roughly 2,400 maintenance workers suspended their month-long strike, which had limited bus and subway service to peak hours and late evenings.
Prior to that, other walkouts took place earlier this year over other labour disputes, leaving some commuters wondering about transit schedules going into the holiday season.
As commuters wonder if services will continue normally, the drivers’ union has said a deal is still far away.
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