STM maintenance workers: tentative agreement will be submitted to union members

An agreement was finally reached through conciliation between the Montreal Transit Corporation and the union representing the 2400 maintenance employees.

The conciliator’s proposal, which will be recommended by the union’s negotiating committee, will be presented to union members in the coming weeks.

“After a final round of conciliation and a flurry of activity in the last few days, we have reached an agreement in principle that is responsible and includes compromises from both parties,” said Marie-Claude Léonard, CEO of the STM. “I would like to thank all the teams involved in this negotiation for nearly two years, as well as the mediator-conciliator involved in the case.” 

Negotiations with this union, affiliated with the CSN, have been ongoing for two years. 

Four strikes were held in June, September-October, November, and then December-January, in various forms: refusal to work overtime or strike with essential services.

“I am pleased that the maintenance department employees and the STM have reached an agreement in principle. Montrealers will benefit from this with an efficient, stable and predictable service, while respecting taxpayers’ ability to pay. I am also pleased that both parties worked hard to reach an agreement, as we all hoped when I was elected,” said Soraya Martinez Ferrada, Mayor of Montreal.

The parties had already been in conciliation once, as well as in mediation, before initiating a second conciliation.

The contents of the agreement have not been disclosed, the union keeping it first for its members, as is usually the case in such circumstances.

The dispute mainly concerned the use of subcontracting and wages.

–This report by La Presse Canadienne was translated by CityNews