MONTREAL — Montreal’s Metro rail system and bus service will see sharply reduced hours this month as a result of a strike by maintenance workers for transit agency Sociéte de transport de Montréal (STM) that began Friday, Oct. 31.
The STM system was completely shut down for 24 hours over the weekend by a one-day strike by bus drivers and Metro operators and station agents. They returned to work Sunday morning, but say they will strike again Nov. 15-16 unless they see progress in negotiations.
The strike by 2,400 maintenance workers represented by the Syndicat du Transport de Montreal — their third this year — will continue through Nov. 28. As a result, the STM says on its website, Metro service will only be offered between 6:30 a.m. and 9:30 a.m.; 2:45 p.m. and 5:45 p.m., and from 11 p.m. until the usual closing time, which varies by line.
Similarly, buses will only operate between 6:15 a.m. and 9:15 a.m.; 3 p.m and 6 p.m., and 11:15 p.m. and 1:15 a.m. Regular paratransit service will continue.
The head of the maintenance workers’ union, Bruno Jeannotte, told the CBC that there have been more than 115 negotiating sessions, but “with an employer showing no intention of resolving the labor dispute, we have no choice but to continue increasing the pressure.”
