Montreal transit maintenance workers announce third strike, spanning most of November

MONTREAL — Upset at lagging contract negotiations, the union representing maintenance workers with Montreal’s public transit agency says its members will go on strike for the third time since June, lasting most of November.

The new strike will begin on Halloween night and continue until Nov. 28, the Syndicat du transport de Montréal said Tuesday. During the labour action, the roughly 2,400 employees will refuse to work overtime and limit bus and metro service outside rush hours.

However, the parameters for the strike are unclear, as both sides are required to appear before a labour tribunal to iron out details over the minimal level of service that must be maintained. The transit agency said that among the issues up for discussion is whether the network should provide full service on municipal election day, which is on Nov. 2.

Following a nine-day walkout in June and a two-week walkout in late September and early October, the union said the third strike is necessary because of the transit agency’s “inflexibility” in contract negotiations.

“Every move the union makes at the negotiating table is met with a cold shoulder by the transit authority,” the union said in a statement.

The labour dispute concerns wages and the use of subcontracting. The transit agency wants more flexibility, including to be able to subcontract for certain jobs such as snow removal and landscaping; the existing collective agreement restricts subcontracting.

Bruno Jeannotte, the union president, said he wants to protect his members. Subcontracting, he added, is a short-term cost-saving measure because private companies end up raising their prices when the transport agency has shed its workforce and equipment.

In October, Labour Minister Jean Boulet appointed a team of conciliator-mediators to help bring the sides closer together after mediation failed. Management at the transit agency said Tuesday the union didn’t give the latest negotiation efforts much time as the team only began its work on Oct. 7.

“We are disappointed that the union did not give the new process, which has only just begun, a chance before exercising its right to strike so hastily,” said Marie-Claude Léonard, executive director of the Société de transport de Montréal.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 21, 2025.