A sweeping city-wide transit strike has been temporarily halted for Montreal’s Formula One Grand Prix, as hundreds of thousands of tourists flood the city for the weekend event.
Maintenance workers with Montreal’s public transit agency (STM) launched a strike on Monday, disrupting service across the city after more than a year of stalled contract negotiations.
About 2,400 mechanics walked off the job, reducing bus and metro service to just 50 per cent — operating only during morning and evening rush hours, as well as late at night.
However, full service resumed Friday and will continue through Sunday to accommodate the Canadian Grand Prix weekend.
The temporary pause in the strike was mandated to handle the surge in transit demand during the major international event.
Reduced service will resume on Monday and continue until the strike officially ends on June 17. The first mediation session between the STM and unionized workers is also set for Monday.
The union says negotiations have stalled on such things as the use of subcontracting and on scheduling, especially around night shifts.
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The head of the maintenance workers’ union has warned that the strike could escalate if a deal isn’t reached.
Bruno Jeannotte, the president of the maintenance workers’ union, told reporters that the assigned mediator is slated to meet separately with both sides to get familiar with each party’s position.
Transit service resumed normal schedules Friday as part of the three-day reprieve with full-day, regular-frequency metro and bus service running through Sunday.
The temporary return to normal operations was authorized by Quebec’s labour tribunal, the Tribunal administratif du travail, which approved the measure to handle the expected surge in ridership for the event.
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