The Labor Administration Tribunal (TAT) has ruled: the service will be offered on Friday according to an adjusted schedule, despite the strike by the Syndicat des chauffeurs de la Société de transport de Laval (STL). However, no bus will operate during the day on Saturday.
In a press release published Tuesday afternoon, the Tribunal judges that these criteria “are sufficient so that the health or safety of the population is not endangered”.
Concretely, the agreement approved by the Court provides that all bus routes will be maintained this Friday, but with an adjusted schedule. The services will be available in the morning, with a first departure at 6 am and a last at 8:45 am. In the afternoon, the first departure will be at 3:30 pm and the last at 6:30 pm Then, in the evening, the first buses will leave at 10:30 p.m. and the last ones at 12:30 a.m.
“No trip that has started will be interrupted until the driver arrives at the end of their trip. On Saturday, November 27, 2021, no bus service will be offered to the population, “the Court ruled, indicating that the union” is committed to providing the staff necessary to deal with an exceptional and urgent situation. provided for in this agreement, which would jeopardize the health or safety of the population ”.
The TAT reminds the two parties “that in the event of difficulty in implementing essential services, they must communicate together quickly in order to try to find a solution”, failing which they will have to seek its help “as soon as possible. so that he can provide them with the necessary assistance ”.
Brief reminder of the facts
Earlier, Monday evening, the STL had filed a request for a safeguard order against its Union des chauffeurs de la STL with the Tribunal. The request for a temporary court ruling was motivated by means of pressure from union members deemed illegal by the employer.
The transport company says in fact that these actions resulted in an abnormally high number of delays during the day of last Thursday, November 18, to the point of causing significant damage to its daily customers.
According to the employer, voluntary slowdowns in the service caused delays on at least 250 trips during the day. He claims that these pressure tactics were a direct nuisance to efforts to revive public transport aimed at convincing customers of their efficiency.
The day of the bus drivers’ strike that was to take place on November 15 has been canceled, but the local of the Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), affiliated with the FTQ, has already announced that two more days of strike are due. take place on November 26 and 27, next Friday and Saturday, with the aim of having “an impact on traffic in stores during Black Friday”.
In this case, the dispute concerns the maintenance of bus routes when demand is not sufficient, schedules and salaries. The STL affirms that the overall offer submitted to the Union is fair and comparable to that agreed with the other union units in the company.
With The Canadian Press