Montreal’s public transit maintenance workers will begin six days of job action starting next Monday.
Thousands of STM workers staged a noisy protests in from of the STM’s head office on de la Gauchetiere St. Wednesday before union officials released information about the impending strike.
The 2,400 members of the maintenance staff, which includes mechanics, electricians, plumbers and carpenters, will work to rule from May 7 to May 12: they will not do overtime, and will engage in other pressure tactics.
They are in contract negotiations with their employer and workers voted in favour of job action in February.
The four unions representing the workers said never before has the STM been so demanding of its workers in terms of general work/life balance and specifically when it comes to forced overtime.
The STM countered that a lot of their maintenance work has to be done during off-peak hours.
The workers argue, though, that answer isn’t forced overtime, but to hire more workers.
“The union members are very angry, because the boss is asking for hundreds of cutbacks and they want respect for the good work that they do day to day to give good services to the population. So they are determined to go to make their struggle to be respected by the boss,” said Dominique Daigneault, president of the Central Council of Metropolitan Montreal of the CSN.
The STM said the effect of the job action will be minimal if not unnoticed by commuters, but it remains to be seen if that will continue as the strike goes on in days.
In addition, STM drivers will be voting Thursday on whether to strike over their own negotiations.
