Joel Ceausu – The Suburban LJI Reporter
Some 15,000 Montreal students are walking, carpooling, taxiing and Ubering their way to school Tuesday as the Transco bus driver strike continues.
About 350 drivers of the school bus company serving the Centre de services scolaire de Montréal, the English Montreal School Board, the Lester B. Pearson School Board and the Marguerite-Bourgeoys School Service Centre have been on an unlimited general strike since October 31, with no settlement despite the return to school of more than 360,000 Quebec students following two months of public sector labour disturbances. The union has been negotiating with the employer for about 18 months.
Drivers’ demands center on boosting salaries which the union says can easily be financed by the 25% increase the company received from the CAQ government in 2021-2022.
The return of thousands of students, the loss of bus transportation and the arrival of the season’s first snowstorm makes for a perfect storm, says Colette Fortin, dropping off her daughters at École des Cinq-Continents’ two Snowdon campuses. “My employer said we could leave early today but that doesn’t help us this morning.” She was peeved, along with many other parents, that snow clearing operations for a very minor amount of snow on the opposite side of the street proceeded during drop-off time.
“It’s as if the city, school centres, bus drivers, unions, viruses and Mother Nature are conspiring to keep Quebec kids,” she laughs. “And parents too. I have to start work at 9:30 today instead of 8 a.m.. It feels like everything is broken.”
In November, the drivers’ union (STTT–CSN) served notice on the bus company, claiming illegal actions including attempts to negotiate directly with drivers and undermining negotiations at the bargaining table. They denounced the employer’s offer which amounted to a salary less than $32,000, which the union rejected outright, saying it was unacceptable considering employees must be available on a split schedule mornings and afternoons and prevents most of them from acquiring a second job for 10 months per year.
Most boards and service centres are offering increased supervision services after school to accommodate parents’ schedules. n