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Barring a last-minute deal, there will be no bus or Metro service this weekend in Montreal.
Commuters may have felt a sense of relief on Wednesday after the union representing maintenance workers announced it was suspending its month-long strike that reduced transit service to morning and afternoon rush hours as well as late night service.
However, the province’s labour tribunal, the Tribunal administratif du travail, released its ruling late Wednesday night, allowing a separate strike — this one by the union representing bus drivers, Metro operators and station agents — to completely shut down public transit on Saturday and Sunday.
Only adapted transit will be available on those days.
That same union went on a one-day strike on Nov. 1, which also shut down bus routes and the Metro.
In a news release that accompanied its ruling, the labour tribunal said that the proposal to completely halt public transit for two days would not compromise the health and safety of the population.
Several organizations testified during this week’s hearings in an effort to convince the tribunal to not allow a total service shutdown. They include the Montreal Airport, Montreal public health, the Société du Parc Jean-Drapeau and the Autorité régionale de transport métropolitain (ARTM), which is the regional transit planning agency for the greater Montreal area.
“The evidence does not show that the interruption of STM services for a weekend, with the exception of adapted transit, presents an obvious, imminent and real threat to the life, safety, health and security of the population,” the news release states.
Contract disputes have led to major disruptions to Montrealers’ commutes this year. The maintenance workers’ union, which suspended its strike early Wednesday morning, walked off the job three times this year.
The first strike lasted nine days in June and the second one lasted two weeks in late September and early October.
Law 14 gives the provincial government the power to fast-track the end of strikes that affect an essential service, but it only comes into effect on Nov. 30.
On Wednesday — several hours after the maintenance workers’ union suspended its strike —Quebec Labour Minister Jean Boulet tabled a bill that aims to fast-track the implementation of Law 14.
Boulet said it was still important to table the bill given the strike that is planned this weekend.
Earlier in the day, CBC News asked the labour tribunal if this newest bill could have an effect on its ruling related to this weekend’s strikes. A spokesperson for the tribunal said the judge in the case would continue the process of issuing a ruling based on the hearings that took place on Monday.
