RTL bus drivers issue strike mandate

Bus drivers with the Longueuil transit authority voted almost unanimously — 98 per cent — in favour of a strike mandate.

The bus drivers’ collective agreement had expired on Jan. 1.

The strike warrant may be “triggered at the appropriate time,” the RTL bus drivers’ union announced in a statement.

The union says the main source of contention with the employer is the “calculation of travel time.” The drivers maintain that the transit authority management is not being realistic on this issue, which leads to delays and impatience for bus users. In particular, the agency doesn’t take into consideration reductions of speed limits to 30 or 40 kilometres per hour in some areas.

“The drivers and their union are demanding realistic travel times,” the union said.

“RTL users do not have it easy. Too often, they are piled up like sardines, and the journeys are late or cancelled outright. The RTL must better plan trips,” said CUPE union advisor Michel Latulippe.

The company’s management responds that trip times are revised four times a year and a process is in place to adjust them. General manager Michel Veilleux also said the topic never came up during their last negotiations in April.

The RTL bus drivers’ union, which is affiliated with the Canadian Union of Public Employees, has about 750 members.