Laval bus drivers hit the picket line in day-long strike disrupting service

Bus drivers employed by the Société de Transport de Laval go on strike for one day on Wednesday.

After 22 negotiation sessions and mediation, the STL and the local section of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), affiliated with the FTQ, have still not succeeded in reaching an agreement on the renewal of the collective agreement.

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The agreement for the 625 STL bus drivers expired on July 31, 2019. Wednesday is the first day of the job action.

During the strike, essential services will be provided, from 6 a.m. to 8.45 a.m., from 3 p.m. to 6.30 p.m., then from 10.30 p.m. to 12.30 a.m.

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The dispute concerns the abolition of bus routes when demand is insufficient, as well as the wages of the drivers and the schedules.

The STL, like other public transit companies, is grappling with a drop in revenue caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.

The transit authority claims to have a very tight financial framework and is keen on respecting it.

“Despite the limited budgetary context, due in particular to the significant drop in ridership linked to the pandemic, the STL submitted an offer including a salary increase comparable to what has been agreed to in other transport companies in Quebec,” management said.

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For its part, the union believes that it has enabled the transport company to save money, under the commitment that savings would be reinvested in working conditions — which was not the case, maintains union president, Patrick Lafleur.

He pleads for the maintenance of bus routes and not the reduction of services, despite the difficult context.

“Public transit is the only way out of the climate crisis. The management of the STL puts their heads in the sand by refusing to see what is nevertheless obvious: without an adequate public transport offer, Laval residents will turn to cars,” Lafleur said.