Transit service in Montreal will “resume gradually” on Wednesday as a strike by union maintenance workers ends.
The Montreal Transit Corporation said in a news release late Tuesday that service would begin at 6:15 a.m. Wednesday.
An agreement has not yet been reached, but negotiations are ongoing, STM CEO Marie-Claude Leonard said in a statement.
The strike by the transit agency's 2,400 staff – the third this year – began on the evening of Oct. 31 and was expected to last until Nov. 28, limiting bus and subway service in Montreal to rush hours and late evenings.
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Meanwhile, the union representing the agency's 4,500 bus drivers and subway operators has planned a two-day strike this weekend, following a one-day strike on Nov. 1 that brought all service to a standstill.
The repair workers' strike was expected to end just as the government's new labor law was due to come into force on November 30th. The law, passed in the spring, gives the Labor Secretary the power to end a dispute by ordering binding arbitration when a strike or lockout is deemed harmful to the community.
It also expands the types of services that must be maintained during a labor dispute to include those that provide for the “welfare of the public.”
Minister of Labor Jean Boulet said on Tuesday he wanted to be able to limit the pressure tactics of Montreal transit agency workers. He said he would introduce a bill on Wednesday that would introduce a new law giving the government sweeping powers to end strikes.
The maintenance workers' union said Boulet's decision showed the government “would prefer to once again attack workers' rights rather than adequately fund public transport.” Negotiations with the transit agency continued Tuesday, the union said.
The main sticking points in the negotiations were increasing wages and outsourcing some maintenance work. The agency said workers' wage demands far exceed its ability to pay.
— with files from The Canadian Press
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