STM disappointed to see its clients needlessly used as pawns in negotiations with maintenance employees

MONTRÉAL, June 1, 2018 – The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) has taken note of an overtime strike notice covering the period from June 9 to 22. The strike notice was filed with the Tribunal administratif du travail (TAT) on Wednesday, May 30, but was held back during intensive, sustained discussions by the parties aimed at finding common ground for avoiding a new strike and at convincing the union to accept mediation in order to reach a collective agreement as soon as possible.

Given the failure of these new efforts and despite the union’s acceptance of an STM proposal for speeding up the pace of meetings over the coming weeks, the essential services procedure will be triggered, as the strike notice is effective. Two dates for representations before the TAT are scheduled for next week, with a view to identifying the services that have to be maintained during the strike.

The STM wishes to reassure its users that, as always, it will continue to do everything possible to shield them from the consequences of a strike. The same applies to preserving smooth transit operations during the major summer events that are about to get under way.

Call for mediation still planned
As announced on May 24, the STM will submit an official request for a government mediator on June 6, by virtue of the Act respecting the process of negotiation of collective agreements and the settlement of disputes in the municipal sector (CQLR, chapter 24).

The maintenance employees’ union has informed the STM that it plans to contest this initiative, as it does not recognize the legitimacy, as part of the process recognized by the Act, of the negotiation meetings held before the end of the collective agreement (over 20 meetings held between April 2017 and January 2018).

The STM nevertheless remains committed to breaking the negotiation deadlock and signing a collective agreement as soon as possible and under the best possible conditions. The goal is to ensure long-term service for transit users and spare them the consequences of repeated pressure tactics.

The STM repeats that it wants to do everything possible to ratify a new agreement, as it has already shown. However, the union also has to be willing to focus its efforts on the right places.

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 Johanne Dufour
Corporate Administrator, Public Affairs
STM
medias@stm.info