The senior management of the Société de transport de Montréal (STM) must address the climate of violence that reigns in its Legendre garage: local executives are afraid to venture onto the floor or do not have the power to change things.
This is the opinion issued by the Commission des normes, de l’équité, de la santé et de la sécurité au travail (CNESST) in an inspection report dating from the end of May and obtained thanks to the Access to Information Act. A previous report, revealed by The Press in March, described at least two fights between employees and a “deteriorating climate suggests more serious incidents of violence.”
This time, the labor inspector in the case – whose name is redacted – welcomes the implementation of an action plan by the STM and the local union to resolve the crisis, but adds that these actions are “insufficient.”
“The situation has deteriorated to such an extent at this center that corrective measures will have to be proportionately large to address the problem,” he wrote. “The involvement of senior management is crucial.”
The report mentions in particular “pitfalls”, notably bureaucratic ones, “which are scattered [le] path” of managers who are trying to resolve the problem. Furthermore, “even now, some managers are afraid to go to the floor,” adds the report, quoting the words of an STM manager.
The causes of the toxic climate remain unclear when reading the report, but the employer and union agree in pointing the finger at a “hard core” of those responsible. “Workers hate each other so much that they cannot stand each other,” describes the report.
“Discussions in different languages can make a person who does not understand what is being said feel excluded,” mentioned a previous CNESST report. “This is a recurring problem throughout the STM network.”
Accelerated action plan
The huge Legendre bus garage is located near Saint-Laurent Boulevard, just north of the Métropolitaine. It is in the maintenance department, which has about a hundred employees responsible for repairing buses, that the problems occur.
In a statement sent by email, the STM said it was tackling the problem head on.
“We have developed an action plan to improve the work environment at CT Legendre,” said communications advisor Amélie Régis. “As recommended by the inspector, we will accelerate its deployment supervised by senior management, in particular through the establishment of a multidisciplinary intervention group.”
Mme Régis highlighted the collaboration between union and employer in this matter.
But “it is important to know that a tense work climate does not change overnight,” she added. “We must give managers the right tools so that they are able to identify, correct, control and prevent psychosocial risks at work, such as conflict situations between employees.”