The Société de transport de Montréal (STM) announced Wednesday that it would eliminate 255 positions, but the restructuring plan has not yet been revealed, which is causing concern, lament the unions.
“We are talking about 5% of the payroll for non-unionized, unionized office and professional positions. We are therefore talking about approximately 255 positions which would be abolished,” explains Stéphane Lamont, union president of local section CUPE 2850.
The job cuts are therefore twice as large as what was planned two weeks ago by the general director, Marie-Claude Léonard, since in mid-November she spoke of around 120 positions eliminated.
During the announcement made to employees yesterday morning, Mr.me Leonardo said he was immersed “in a context of great challenges”, according to our information.
“It’s a zone of turbulence to go through,” she explained before adding that this decision was not easy, but “demonstrates that [la STM gère] courageously and responsibly.
She also assured that people whose position will be abolished would be met to look at options, including new possibilities to develop in other functions.
So far, no plan has been proposed, which makes things worrying for unions.
“We are concerned about the underfunding of public transport, but as the plan is not yet known, it is difficult to know who will be affected or not,” continues Mr. Lamont.
It would mainly be office workers who would be affected, since the STM wishes to protect the service offered to citizens.
Standoff with Quebec
But for Chrystine Montplaisir, advisor to the Canadian Union of Public Employees, these cuts will still have consequences.
“They always say that the service will not be affected, but [dans les emplois de bureau] there are still strategic positions that could have an impact [sur le service]“, she maintains, claiming to be in nothingness.
Quebec and the municipalities have been engaged in a standoff for several months over the financing of transport companies, an offer of $238 million having been deemed insufficient.
In Montreal, the idea of the metro closing at 11 p.m. for the night was also raised to reduce costs.
For its part, the STM has been racking up deficits of several tens of millions since the pandemic and these measures are part of the company’s reduction in expenses.