Transco school bus drivers’ strike ends

The strike by the 350 school bus drivers at Transco in Montreal has come to an end, the union members accepted a conciliator’s proposal for a settlement.

Autobus Transco reports that most bus routes will be able to resume as early as Monday.

“Teams are actively planning the relaunch of routes. The vast majority of routes will be restored by Monday morning, and school boards will advise parents if there are any lingering issues with certain routes,” management said.

A 69.4 per cent majority of union members voted in favour of the proposed settlement, announced the union, which is part of the CSN-affiliated Fédération des employé(e)s des services publics, on Thursday.

The indefinite strike began on October 31.

Some 15,000 student studying in schools with the English Montreal and Lester B. Pearson School Boards, Centres de services scolaires de Montréal and Marguerite-Bourgeoys, as well Collège Sainte-Anne have been impacted.

According to the union federation, the six-year contract, retroactive to July 1, 2022, will increase the weekly salary from $634 to $907 on July 1, 2027.

“We also received an increase in our vacation scale to 10% after the 15th year of service, as well as a sixth sick day in 2025,” says Carole Laplante, president of the Syndicat des travailleuses et travailleurs de Transco-CSN (STTT-CSN).

“We salute the exemplary fight waged by the union’s workers, who stood up for just over four months to obtain these improvements to their working conditions. All other transportation companies will have to take into account the effect of these gains on the job market, and the union can be proud of that too,” points out Stéphanie Gratton, Acting President of the Fédération des employées et employés de services publics-CSN (FEESP-CSN).

Quebec’s Labour Minister Jean Boulet had appointed two conciliators since the beginning of the dispute. He met with both parties separately on February 23, to encourage them to reach a settlement. And then reminded them that he could appoint an arbitrator to settle this if they agreed. But the union refused.

In the end, it was the conciliator’s proposed settlement, submitted on Wednesday and voted on by the union members on Thursday morning, that put an end to the conflict.

–Part of this report is by La Presse Canadienne and was translated by CityNews