Montreal public transit to shut down Saturday as bus and Metro drivers go on strike
CBC
Unless a deal is reached, Montreal’s public transit system will be halted on Saturday when the union representing drivers, Metro operators and station agents goes on strike for 24 hours.
The strike will start at 4 a.m. and end just before 4 a.m. on Sunday. During that time, no buses or Metro trains will run.
Quebec's labour tribunal approved the drivers' strike in a ruling that was published Thursday on the eve of a separate, month-long strike by the maintenance workers’ union, which is slated to start Friday at 10 p.m.
According to the ruling, Saturday's strike poses no danger to health and safety and none of the agencies consulted — police, fire, ambulatory, etc. — requested a higher level of service.
The airport authority, Aéroports de Montréal (ADM), requested that the 747 bus line be maintained during the 24-hour strike, but that request was rejected.
Adapted transport services will be maintained in their entirety, and the union has agreed to provide the necessary personnel in case of exceptional or unforeseen situations that could pose a danger to public health or safety.
The drivers’ union, the Syndicat des chauffeurs, opérateurs et employés des services connexes (SCFP 1983), has also filed a strike notice that could affect bus and Metro service on Nov. 15 and 16. Those requests have not been approved yet.
The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) is holding a news conference Friday morning at 9 a.m. to update the public about the looming strikes.
Starting at 10 p.m. Friday, bus and Metro services will also be reduced to rush hour throughout the majority of November. There will be no exception made for Sunday’s municipal election.
The union, the Syndicat du transport de Montréal, which represents 2,400 maintenance employees at the STM, has already gone on strike twice so far this year.
This third strike will be the longest yet. Quebec's labour tribunal officially authorized the union to strike for the entire four weeks and said only rush-hour service would be kept during that entire period, but paratransit services will be fully maintained.
The only thing that could stop the strike is if the STM and union strike a deal before the 10 p.m. deadline.
If the strike goes forward, buses will run normally during the strike from 6:15 a.m. to 9:15 a.m. and again from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.
Night bus service will run from 11:15 p.m. to 1:15 a.m.
As his flight departed from Amsterdam's Schiphol airport en route to Kuwait via Istanbul, Canadian crypto fugitive Andean Medjedovic was unaware that his globe-trotting lifestyle would soon be halted.
One of the largest taxi companies in Toronto will be down to three wheelchair-accessible cabs by the end of March, as advocates and providers say the city is failing to support accessible taxi drivers.
As a deep freeze continues to envelop southwestern Ontario at the same time municipalities deal with a pressing shortage of road salt, there's a renewed focus on finding different ways to melt road ice.
Dave Lawson is a proud Canadian who has bumper stickers that say "Canada is not for sale." He's fed up with grocery products plastered with maple leaves and patriotic logos that turn out to be American imports.
The Town of Badger has issued an evacuation order for some residents as water levels on the Exploits River continue to rise.
The head of a national seniors' advocacy organization says protecting nursing home residents from sexual abuse is an important but challenging issue.
New data shows Winnipeg's fire-paramedic service fielded hundreds of reports involving the city's homeless population, but one advocate says she expects that number to go down in light of the city's limits on where encampments can be.
Former students of the Île-à-la-Crosse Boarding School have reached a settlement in their lawsuit against the federal government.
Missing baby presumed dead after father charged with killing mother in St. Albert, Alta., police say
A man is facing charges in the death of a young mother in the Edmonton area and the presumed death of their missing nine-month-old daughter.
A school trustee in Prince George, B.C., says she's shaken and scared after being surrounded by police with their guns drawn and then put in handcuffs, in what RCMP say was a case of mistaken identity.
Despite an eleventh hour attempt to secure at least a few more weeks of freedom, a Calgary dentist was handed a three-year prison sentence for a decade-long insurance billing fraud.
Canada Computers & Electronics says a data breach has leaked information about some of its customers, though several say they are unhappy with the scant details the retailer has provided — including how many of them were affected, and when the breach occurred.
The city of Toronto is shutting down a yacht club on the Humber River in Etobicoke that is accused of having negative impacts on the local ecosystem.