STM maintenance workers’ union considers more pressure tactics

While the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) and the union representing maintenance workers have been negotiating for nearly two years in an attempt to reach an agreement to renew the collective agreement, the union is considering once again resorting to pressure tactics to try to break the deadlock.

The union is “analyzing” the situation and has not yet determined what form these potential pressure tactics would take, said Bruno Jeannotte, president of the union representing the 2,400 maintenance workers of the STM, on Friday.

“Given the current context, we risk resorting to pressure tactics. We are analyzing the situation: will these tactics target the public? Will they be more internal? That’s what we’re analyzing right now. We’re not ruling anything out at the moment. It will depend on what the STM proposes to us in the coming days at the negotiating table,” stated Mr. Jeannotte.

The last strike, in December and January, took the form of a refusal to work overtime — which affected users to a lesser extent than previous strikes.

There have been four walkouts by this union before: the first time last June, then in September-October, then in November, then in December-January.

Jeannotte hopes that the resumption of negotiations will prevent things from coming to that point.

Subcontracting

The issue of using subcontractors remains at the heart of the dispute.

The union criticizes the STM for wanting to use subcontracting, which, in addition to causing its members to lose jobs, would also result in a loss of expertise.

He also argues that this would harm 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. He believes that the savings achieved would only be short-term and that, after a while, subcontractors would increase their fees or prices.

“The STM is not seeking to privatize its operations. Its primary goal is to make its operations more efficient with these employees who have exceptional expertise in public transportation,” replied management.

The transport company thus clarifies its position regarding subcontracting: “What we are looking for is performance. To achieve this, we propose formalizing a mechanism with the union through which we could compare the cost, but also the reliability and quality, of certain internal activities with those of the external market. If it is cheaper to do it internally, the STM will retain the internal expertise. If it is more expensive to do it internally, the teams will have the necessary time to identify solutions to achieve a cost in line with the market.”

“This proposed mechanism would precisely allow us to value internal expertise while ensuring sound management of public funds. The objective of performance is clear, but the means to achieve it is flexible, and that is what we want to discuss within the framework of the negotiation,” added management.

The parties held 138 negotiation sessions and six months of mediation, in addition to conciliation.

The STM has reached agreements with the three other major unions, which are local branches of CUPE and SEPB, affiliated with the FTQ. They represent the 4500 bus drivers and metro operators, the 1,300 administrative and technical employees and the 800 professionals.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews