MONTREAL -- The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) has suspended Gleason Frenette, president of the Syndicat du transport de Montréal, which represents more than 2,400 maintenance employees.
The public-transit authority did not specify why Frenette was suspended, but said it has a zero-tolerance policy regarding bullying or verbal abuse, and reports that Quebec's health and occupational safety act requires that it take all necessary measures to protect the health, safety and integrity of all STM workers.
The STM said Frenette had already received written warnings before being suspended. It added that the suspension was linked to behaviour that had nothing to do with his union activities.
Frenette has been publicly opposed to the STM's stated intentions to set up a temporary action plan that includes recourse to private suppliers in order to deal with cumulative delays due to the maintenance of buses. The STM insists that it does not intend to privatize any of its activities.
Nearly a year ago, with the help of a mediator, the STM reached a new collective agreement with its maintenance employees after tough negotiations that lasted around two years.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 28, 2020.
