Threat of transit strikes looms over FEQ
Ruby Pratka, Local Journalism Initiative reporter
editor@qctonline.com
The union representing maintenance staff at the Réseau du Transport de la Capitale (RTC), Quebec City’s public transport network, has formally raised the possibility of a transit strike during the Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ).
On June 19, the union announced in a statement that it had submitted a strike notice for a 10-day work stoppage beginning July 4, the first day of the festival.
The collective agreement between the bus maintenance workers’ union – the Syndicat des salariés et salariées d’entretien du RTC–CSN – and the city expired in September 2024; negotiations for a new agreement began in October, according to the union.
“The goal is not to strike at all costs, but to apply pressure on the eve of the busiest time of year to quickly reach a settlement that is satisfactory to both parties,” explained union president Nicolas Louazel.
Frédéric Brun is the president of the Fédération des employées et employés des services publics (FEESP), a division of the CSN union federation, of which the RTC maintenance workers’ union is a member. He and Louazel struck a reassuring tone regarding the likelihood of a strike.
“The parties are entering into an intensive negotiation blitz – day, evening, night, weekend – and experience tells us that it is entirely possible to reach a settlement quickly,” Brun said. “The concrete threat of a strike during FEQ is only an incentive to prevent the employer from falling back into its habit of marking time and dragging things out.”
The union had previously submitted a notice for a one- day strike planned for April 30, which was cancelled on April 25 after progress at the negotiating table.
The last time RTC transit service was halted was in July 2023, when the Syndicat des employés du transport public de Québec métropolitaine (SETPQM), the union which represents the RTC’s more than 900 drivers, went on strike. That strike ended with an agreement on July 6 – five days after it had begun and hours before the beginning of FEQ. No service was offered during that strike, after a labour tribunal ruled that transit was not an essential service, angering advocates for low-wage workers and people with disabilities who depend on the service.
RTC spokesperson Raphaëlle Savard said 13,000 people use the RTC every day during FEQ. She said the RTC had twice requested that the union “agree on a minimal level of service to offer in the event of a strike.”
“This request aims to limit the impact on regular RTC customers, many of whom rely on public transport to get around, as well as on occasional customers who use RTC services to get to FEQ,” she said.
“The RTC acknowledges the strike notice and will communicate the impacts on service delivery as quickly as possible to provide maximum predictability to its customers. The RTC reiterates its availability to negotiate at any time, including weekends, to reach an agree- ment and avoid any impact on customers,” Savard said. She invited people with questions about bus service to visit the RTC website or call customer service at 418-627-2511, option 1.
The union said in a state- ment that it would make no further comment for the time being, “in order to concentrate on the negotiations.”
Separately, the union representing personnel operating and maintaining the Québec- Lévis and Matane-Godbout ferries, also a CSN affiliate, gave notice for a strike beginning July 4. Members of the ferry operators’ union, which negotiates directly with the Treasury Board, have been without an agreement since April 2023. “The lack of serious progress at our negotiating table has made us understand more than once that for the government, we are not among its priorities,” said union president Patrick Saint-Laurent.