Montreal transit service will “resume gradually” Wednesday as a strike by unionized maintenance workers has ended.
The Montreal Transit Corporation said in a news release late Tuesday service would begin as of 6:15 a.m. Wednesday.
An agreement has yet to be reached, but talks are ongoing, STM CEO Marie-Claude Léonard said in a statement.
A strike by the transit agency’s 2,400 maintenance workers – the third so far this year – began on the evening of Oct. 31 and was scheduled to last until Nov. 28, limiting bus and subway service in Montreal to peak hours and late evenings.
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Meanwhile, the union representing the agency’s 4,500 bus drivers and subway operators has planned a two-day strike this weekend, following a one-day strike on Nov. 1 that halted all service.
The maintenance workers’ strike was set to end just as the government’s new labour law was scheduled to take effect on Nov. 30. The law, adopted in the spring, gives the labour minister the power to end a dispute by imposing binding arbitration when a strike or lockout is deemed harmful to the public.
It also expands the kinds of services that must be maintained during a labour dispute to include those that ensure “the well-being of the population.”
Labour Minister Jean Boulet said Tuesday he wanted the ability to limit pressure tactics by workers of the Montreal transit agency. He said he would table a bill on Wednesday that would bring into force a new law giving the government broad power to end strikes.
The maintenance workers’ union said Boulet’s decision showed the government “prefers to attack workers’ rights once again rather than adequately fund public transit.” Negotiations with the transit agency were continuing on Tuesday, the union said.
The major sticking points in the talks have been wage increases and the outsourcing of some maintenance work. The agency has said the workers’ salary demands far exceed its ability to pay.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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