The Société de Transport de Montréal (STM) is aiming to reach agreements with the unions for bus drivers and maintenance workers by Nov. 15, in order to put an end to the month-long strike.
After a week of public transit strikes, the STM held a news conference on Friday morning to provide an update on the ongoing contract disputes with both the maintenance workers’ union and the union representing bus drivers, operators, and station agents.
STM CEO Marie-Claude Léonard said that Montreal’s new mayor, Soraya Martinez Ferrada, wants all labour disputes to be resolved by Nov. 15.
Léonard is asking organizations affected by the strike to write to the Tribunal administratif du travail (TAT), detailing the impact the lack of service has on them and plead the case for additional service.
“As usual, it is the TAT, Tribunal administratif du travail, that will define the level of service. But we will defend our clients because for us, two days without service is unacceptable,” Léonard said.
The hearing will be taking place on Monday at 10 a.m., after which the tribunal will issue its decision.
Two separate strikes took place this month, one of which is ongoing.
WATCH | STM provides update on negotiations with workers:
Progress made, but deal to end strike is not close, Montreal transit authority says
The STM is hoping to reach an agreement with workers by Nov. 15. That’s when Metro operators and bus drivers are planning a two-day strike. STM officials say arbitration could be an option, if a deal isn’t struck by mid November.
At 10 p.m. on Oct. 31, maintenance workers with the Syndicat du Transport de Montréal launched a month-long strike — its third strike in 2025.
Barring a last-minute deal, this would mark its longest strike this year, with the other two lasting 9 days in June and 14 days in September.
The remaining sticking points include wage increases and outsourcing. The STM has reiterated on multiple occasions that it was in an unprecedented financial situation.
Last Saturday, the union representing bus drivers, Metro operators and station agents shut down all Metro and bus service, except adapted transit, as part of a 24-hour strike.
This marked the union’s first strike in 38 years.
But on Wednesday night, it sent the STM a strike notice for Nov. 15 and 16 — which could be averted if there’s progress at the negotiation table.
Talks with bus drivers’ union advancing
Negotiations with the bus drivers’ union are progressing according to Léonard and STM public affairs director Katherine Roux Groleau.
A mediator joined discussions with the drivers on Monday, says Roux Groleau.
The STM leaders are hopeful that the public transit service can reach an agreement with the bus drivers’ union by the Nov. 15 deadline and avoid two consecutive days of strikes.
But negotiations with the maintenance workers’ union still prove to be a challenge.
‘We need to work together,’ says STM public affairs director
A mediator has asked the STM and the maintenance workers’ union to reconvene next Wednesday.
If the two parties are unable to find common ground by Nov. 15 while respecting the public transit’s financial framework, the STM will request arbitration, Roux Groleau said.
“The mayor has said it herself. There will be no additional money, so we need to work together to find solutions,” Roux Groleau said.
The public affairs director said that modernizing working conditions remains one of the sticking points of the discussions with maintenance workers. But that isn’t the case for bus drivers.
“I think drivers are way ahead of the game on that front. They’re willing to work with us to find cost-saving measures to get to their desired framework and increase salaries and wages,” she said.
A drop in sales of Zone A monthly passes in November
Bruno Jeannotte, president of the Syndicat du transport de Montréal-CSN — the union representing the 2,400 STM maintenance workers on strike — said in a statement that the STM is waiting for arbitration and for the labour minister to apply Bill 89.
The law allows the government to maintain services that it considers important to the well-being of the population in the event of a strike or a lockout. But it only comes into effect on Nov. 30.
“There is only one reason why we still don’t have an agreement and why the strike continues, and that is the STM’s stubborness,” Jeannotte said in the statement published Friday.
“In the middle of a strike that is having major impacts, the STM continues to want to give us salaries well below those of comparable positions and to open the door wide to subcontracting.”
As of Nov. 4, the STM recorded 100, 731 sales of monthly Zone A passes for November — less than half of the number of monthly November passes sold by Nov. 4, 2024, according to the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain.
Zone A applies to travel within the agglomeration of Montreal and excludes travel to Longueuil and Laval.
Last year, the STM sold 231, 124 monthly passes for Zone A by Nov. 4, 2024 and a total of 302,943 monthly passes by the end of that month.
Bus and Metro service reduced during maintenance workers’ strike
It is now up to Quebec’s labour tribunal to determine whether the level of essential services proposed by the union during another potential strike is sufficient to avoid endangering the health or safety of the population.
The union has been asking for better schedules and the end of unpaid work.
During the maintenance workers’ November strike, bus and Metro service will be reduced all week and confined to the following hours to meet rush hour needs:
Bus service:
- From 6:15 a.m. to 9:15 a.m.
- From 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
- From 11:15 p.m. to 1:15 a.m.
Most buses departing before the scheduled end of service will complete their trips, says the STM.
Metro service:
- From 6:30 a.m. to 9:30 a.m.
- From 2:45 p.m. to 5:45 p.m.
- From 11 p.m. until the Metro’s usual closing time.
Metro stations will close gradually as the last train passes, says the STM.
