The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) assures that the abolition of 230 positions announced Thursday will not have an impact on service to users, but a union is worried about the collateral damage of these cuts.
The organization had already announced in December 2023 a plan to control its expenses when presenting its 2024 budget. It had indicated that it had a spending reduction objective of $36 million.
She then mentioned a salary reduction “of 4% more than the 1% already achieved on positions not linked to the delivery of the service”. This materialized on Thursday with the abolition of 180 additional positions, for a total of 230 positions cut in 2024.
“This allows us to move towards balance for the 2024 budget. It is not out of joy that we do it. We have a financial situation that becomes more complex from year to year,” Marie-Claude Léonard, general director of the STM, declared in a press scrum Thursday afternoon.
Marie-Claude Léonard, general director of the STM, during a press scrum Thursday afternoon.
Photo Olivier Faucher
Among the positions abolished, 70% were vacant. So around sixty employees learned that they were losing their jobs.
“It concerns us”
The transport company assures that these deletions will not impact the level of service offered, at least for this year.
“It’s certain that we fear for the service in 2025,” however, lets slip Mme Leonard.
By email, its communications department specified that the affected positions are part of the following departments:
- Finance, procurement, legal affairs
- Innovation and technology
- Partner relations and communication
- Talent, diversity and employee experience
- Planning and maintenance
The Montreal Transport Union, which brings together, among others, mechanics and employees of bus and metro maintenance services in Montreal, indicated that it represented 115 of the abolished positions.
“It concerns us. Perhaps there will not be any circuits cut as such, but if there are buses or metro trains that are not roadworthy, they will not run,” mentioned Caroline Senneville, president of the CSN, to which the union is affiliated.
Not much fat
Pierre Barrieau, transport planning expert at UQAM, explains that unlike several other transport networks in the world, the STM “does not have a lot of fat to cut” when it wants to reduce its workforce.
“Every round [de compressions] brings us closer to critical problems. The STM is already very streamlined.”
The STM, which has been experiencing serious financial problems since the pandemic, reiterated Thursday that it is committed to reducing its recurring expenses by 100 million over five years.
-With the QMI Agency