STM will be fully shutdown this weekend if a deal with the bus drivers and metro operators union is not reached.
From 4 a.m. on Nov. 15 to 3:59 a.m. on Nov. 17, STM services will be completely suspended, with the exception of paratransit services.
“We are doing everything in our power to reach an agreement before the end of the week and try to avoid this weekend’s strike. However, only the union can suspend the strike, and we are asking them to reconsider it given the impact on the public,” said the STM in an email to CityNews on Friday morning.
The union, SCPF 1983, which represents 4,500 bus drivers and metro operators, is also reiterating that they are still in mediation, but couldn’t comment further.
Wednesday night the labour tribunal (TAT) approved the strike.
TAT’s decision came on the heels of STM maintenance workers calling off their strike earlier Wednesday that began on Nov. 1 and was set to go until Nov. 28.
The STM said that the three offers, including salary improvements along with cost-saving measures, were rejected by the maintenance workers union, the Syndicat du transport de Montréal-CSN. But, added that negotiations were ongoing.
“Even though those offers were rejected, we’re not giving up,” the STM said. “A negotiated agreement remains the best outcome for everyone. We are still in mediation. We’ll reassess the situation at the end of the mediation period which is Nov. 28”
The STM invites commuters to plan their trips carefully by consulting the STM website.
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On Thursday, Premier Legault said his government won’t be invoking closure — which allows the government to ram through a legislation without a debate in the National Assembly — to advance Bill 14. The law would give powers the labour minister to intervene during strike in order to maintain essential services.
Service gradually returned to normal on Wednesday after the maintenance workers’ union, which had been on strike since Nov. 1, suspended its strike in anticipation of government intervention.
The 2,400 maintenance workers began a strike on the evening of Oct. 31. It was scheduled to continue until Nov. 28, before being suspended late Tuesday evening, after a dozen days of walkouts, with only essential services provided during rush hour.
On Friday morning, that union said there was no news for the moment and that negotiations were still taking place.
– With files from La Presse Canadienne
