The official opposition at Quebec City Hall believes that the management of the Réseau de transport de la Capitale (RTC) has shown “naivety” and a “lack of experience” in leading the negotiations and subsequent five-day bus drivers’ strike.
“The employer did not help itself by taking so long to move the negotiations forward. We have not used every possible lever to achieve a balance of power. If the only trump card we had up our sleeves was counting on public transit being recognized as an essential service, we didn’t have a 360-degree vision,” lamented Alicia Despins, interim chief of Quebec First.
The latter has several questions about the course of the negotiations, the labor dispute and the legal debate before the Administrative Labor Court (TAT).
On June 9, the TAT ruled that the RTC was not subject to the Essential Services Act because “in the current situation, there is no evidence that a strike could result in any risk to public health or safety.”
In Ms. Despins’ eyes, “the employer obviously made a weak argument.” [devant le TAT]. It was his responsibility to demonstrate this clearly.”
Raphaëlle Savard, spokeswoman for the RTC, was called for comment and claimed in a statement that the agreement reached on Wednesday “[nous] will have made it possible to make significant progress in terms of operational flexibility to meet future challenges, notably the transition network, the introduction of the tram and the electrification of our centres.”
been surprised?
On May 30, less than a week before filing the strike notice, RTC CEO Nicolas Girard seemed quite confident when Le Journal asked him about the risks of a labor dispute erupting.
“There were almost forty negotiation sessions. More are planned for July. Negotiations and discussions take their course […] “At the moment the talks at the negotiating table are going well,” he replied in an editorial interview.
However, the drivers had already been in “visibility means” (red pullovers over the uniform) for many months by then, as their collective agreement had expired on June 30, 2022.
On June 5, the union (CSN) filed a strike notice for the period July 1-16, and a five-day strike was observed from July 1-5.
long negotiations
The negotiations in the RTC lasted several months, as several normative texts that had not been updated in the collective agreement for many years had to be dusted off.
There was a rift between the two parties on the crucial issue of salaries, but the upcoming Festival d’été de Québec (FEQ) caused everyone to pour water on their wine. Negotiations ended at dawn on Wednesday with an 18% agreement over five years.
The two opposition parties in Quebec City Hall viewed these increases as an acceptable “compromise” that respects Quebec’s ability to pay taxpayers.
– In collaboration with Stéphanie Martin
Excerpts from the judgment of the Administrative Labor Court of June 9th
– “The RTC argues that disrupting public transport services would endanger public health or safety as it could deny vulnerable and socio-economically disadvantaged users access to healthcare facilities. […] However, such allegations, being so general and not specific to the Quebec situation, do not meet the necessary threshold to limit the constitutional right to strike.”
– “The RTC is based on a modal shift from the user to the car, which appears high and ignores the alternative solutions but also the various remedies.”