The Mayor of Quebec has asked the Quebec Minister of Labor to intervene quickly in the strike by workers at the Réseau de Transports de la Capitale (RTC), which officially began early this Saturday morning.
Bruno Marchand stresses that Minister Jean Boulet must act and “recognize that the situation is serious”.
” If [la situation] difficult, it gets even more serious. […] The Quebec government passed a law a few years ago stating that our public transportation is not an essential service and that something is wrong there. »
While not wishing to comment on Minister Boulet’s promulgation of a special law, Mayor Marchand stressed that a short-term solution was needed as the situation was “unsustainable”.
Mayor Bruno Marchand urges Labor Minister Jean Boulet to intervene quickly in relation to the RTC workers’ strike. Archive photo
“We’ll see what means he can take,” he explains. There certainly won’t be a change in the law to make this an essential service in the short term. At the same time, things have to be done quickly because there are other negotiations with other union representatives in Quebec and in Quebec. Unless the law changes, we will be banging our heads against the same wall every time, and that will impact the citizens of Montreal, Quebec and other Quebec cities. »
The mayor invites the Minister of Labor to be there to “see the damage” that a conflict like this could cause in the long run. He wants the law changed to “remove the sword of Damocles” hanging over the province’s public transit system.
Worry about the FEQ
Bruno Marchand also expressed his concern that the conflict should continue until the start of the Festival d’été de Québec. The city of Quebec has been working in advance for the past few weeks to set up a backup plan in case the strike has to continue.
“Everything is on the table. […] However, it will never return to normal. All we can do will not cover all the negative consequences of stopping public transport. »