Contract talks between VIA Rail Canada and Unifor have broken off, the union reported June 2. The federal conciliation period ended May 31; under Canadian labor law, following a 21-day cooling-off period, Unifor would be in a legal strike position on June 22. Also, Société de transport de Montréal (STM) métro operators and bus drivers have voted in favor of a strike, according to news reports.
Unifor reported that no tentative agreement has been reached between its Council 4000 and Local 100 bargaining committees and VIA Rail after another week of bargaining in Montreal. Council 4000 represents 1,800 VIA Rail employees who work in station services, headquarters, maintenance centers, and onboard trains; Local 100 represents 700 VIA Rail employees working as diesel engine mechanics, electricians, railcar technicians, and general workers.
The groups officially opened negotiations with VIA Rail last October.
“The Unifor union says many of its members are struggling with a scheduling system known as ‘on-board reserve boards’, which means they have too few hours of work to generate sufficient income,” The Canadian Press reported June 2. “‘Workers face chronically reduced hours and reduced wages due to the employer’s mismanagement of the roster system. Many are unable to earn a decent wage and struggle to meet their basic financial obligations,’ reports Unifor.”
VIA Rail told The Canadian Press that “as part of the usual process for renewing collective agreements, negotiations will continue on June 17, with the help of conciliators.” According to the news agency, “Management says it is ‘committed to negotiating in good faith with the aim of reaching new agreements and avoiding any service disruption.’”
Unifor is said to be Canada’s largest union in the private sector, representing 320,000 workers in every major area of the economy.
Meanwhile, STM members of Local 1983 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), which represents 4,500 métro operators, bus drivers, station attendants, and adapted transit drivers, “voted 99 per cent for the strike mandate at a general meeting held Saturday evening [May 31], the union reported on Sunday [June 1],” according to The Canadian Press. “CUPE said it deplores the STM administration’s continued ‘demands for significant setbacks from unionized employees,’ particularly regarding work schedules, work-life balance and job security. The issue of wage increases and the privatization of adapted transit services are also among the points of contention between union members and the transit authority.”
In a statement to the news agency, CUPE Local 1983 President Frédéric Therrien said: “This is a decision we don’t take lightly, but our members have spoken with one voice. They demand to be treated with respect, to be able to perform their jobs under humane conditions and to receive compensation that reflects their essential role in the daily lives of Montrealers.”
According to The Canadian Press, CUPE’s collective agreement expired Jan. 5, 2025.
“The union representing the Montreal transit authority’s 2,400 maintenance workers, the Syndicat des employés d’entretien de la STM, announced last week [week of May 25] that it intends to go on strike June 9, just days before the start of the city’s Grand Prix weekend,” the news agency reported.
According to a June 2 Montreal Gazette report, STM’s métro and buses “will only run at rush hour and late at night during most of a nine-day strike by STM maintenance workers that starts next week, but normal services will be provided during Grand Prix weekend.” It said that the “Tribunal administratif du travail issued a decision Monday [June 2] approving an agreement between the union and the STM to continue providing essential services during the strike….”
The Montreal Gazette reported that negotiations between STM and the maintenance workers’ union (Syndicat des employés d’entretien de la STM) “are ongoing,” noting that “[a]t issue are the way nighttime and weekend schedules are created, how workers are transferred from one facilities to another and the use of subcontractors and privatization.”
