Maintenance workers with STM give union mandate for six-day strike

Maintenance workers at the Société de transport de Montréal voted by 98 per cent Sunday to give their union a mandate to hold a six-day strike, saying management’s latest offers threaten their work-life balance.

The Syndicat du Transport de Montréal, representing more than 2,400 employees, said it still hopes to reach a negotiated settlement, but that the employer’s position left it no choice but to take a strike vote.

“Never in the history of our union has the employer been so demanding and aggressive towards gains made by the union,” said union president Gleason Frenette, whose union is affiliated with the Confédération des syndicats nationaux.

Johanne Dufour, corporate manager of public affairs at the STM, said the transit authority has taken note of the strike vote and will continue to negotiate in good faith.

In a statement, STM executive director Luc Tremblay noted that the strike mandate does not mean there will be a strike.

“The STM wishes to reassure customers by reiterating that there will be no impact on the delivery of the service without further notice,” he said.

“It is important to specify that a strike is not triggered by this mandate,” he said, saying the union would have to serve notice of its intention to strike seven working days beforehand.

Tremblay said the STM’s demands in the ongoing negotiations reflect the need “to review the organization of work that is done in-house in order to be able to deliver service to the public” 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

But union leader Frenette said the STM’s demands are excessive, including imposing mandatory overtime, new rules on accumulated time off and more variable work schedules, as well as switching some jobs from daytime to evening and night shifts and privatizing some functions.

The workers in the union include maintenance staff, mechanics, electricians, plumbers and carpenters.