A joint request for conciliation has been submitted by the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and the union representing maintenance workers, the union says.
It’s the latest development in the stalled negotiations to renew the maintenance workers’ collective agreement for nearly two years now. The request was submitted to Quebec’s Ministry of Labour.
The STM says both parties also agreed not to engage in any pressure tactics during the conciliation period.
Last week the CSN-affiliated union said it was “thinking about a strike.” Now it hopes conciliation leads to a negotiated agreement.
“It’s high time to put an end to these drawn-out negotiations and give us the resources to maintain the STM’s aging infrastructure,” said union president Bruno Jeannotte. “That’s why we proposed restarting conciliation.”
“This joint request to return to conciliation demonstrates our shared commitment to pursuing discussions in a rigorous and constructive manner,” said Marie-Claude Léonard, CEO of the STM. “A negotiated agreement is always in the best interests of both parties involved.”
The issue of using subcontractors remains at the heart of the contract dispute.
The union criticizes the STM for wanting to use subcontracting, saying it leads to its members losing jobs and results in a loss of expertise.
The CSN argues that harms the quality and sustainability of the work, adding that in-house expertise cannot be compared to that of a private subcontractor based solely on the lowest bid.
The STM says it’s submitted several offers to the union, including salary increases, over the past few months.
There have been four walkouts by the unionized workers in the past eight months. The first one was in June 2025, then then in September-October, followed by November, and again in December-January.
That last strike took the form of a refusal to work overtime, which affected users to a lesser extent than previous strikes.
