Strike at the STM | Let them take an Uber!

Hundreds of thousands of metro and bus users will have to find a plan B to get around. However, let them be reassured: the Administrative Labor Court, which gave the green light to the strike day, considers that they “have access to several technological tools to adapt their trips in real time”.

Thanks to these fantastic technological tools, you see, Montreal users and motorists “will be able to modulate their behavior and take alternative modes of transport.”

Nothing could be easier, after all: a grandmother can hop on a BIXI to get to the hospital; a worker will only have to jump in a taxi to go to the factory; the same for the single mother who will want to go to the supermarket to buy groceries, certainly a little more modest than expected.

It reminds me of the famous phrase attributed to Queen Marie-Antoinette. What if they don’t have a metro? Let them take an Uber – even if it means limiting themselves to brioche!

I joke, I joke, but it is still not the fault of the Administrative Labor Tribunal if Montreal is frozen for the day.

Its role was limited to determining whether the interruption of service could put the Montreal population in danger. This is not the case. The Société de transport de Montréal ensured this, in particular with the Police Department, the Fire Department and Urgences-santé, we read in the decision.

Yes, traffic congestion could slow down ambulances. Yes, travelers stuck in traffic could miss their flights in Dorval. Not to mention the feared nightmare of tens of thousands of people who bought tickets for Canadiens, Alouettes and Carabins matches…

But none of this is enough to prohibit metro and bus drivers from striking for an entire day.

“Although the Court understands that carrying out this strike will sometimes cause significant inconvenience in the lives of many people, its examination consists of ensuring that there is no danger to public health or safety,” writes judge Maude Pepin Hallé in her decision.

These “inconveniences” risk ruining many, many people’s Saturdays – but that is precisely the purpose of a strike, this one like any other. “The purpose of the disturbances is to put pressure on the employer to change their position and obtain a settlement of their working conditions,” recalls the judge.

Everyone understands the principle. And no one questions the unions’ right to strike. However, we must recognize that there are people for whom this strike causes more than simple “inconveniences”.

People with precarious incomes, who work evenings, nights or weekends, who are not unionized and who certainly do not have the means to travel by Uber.

It is these people, not the richest, who are paying the high price of this strike.

And they haven’t stopped suffering. Throughout the month of November, Montreal’s metro and buses will only run during peak hours – thanks, this time, to the walkout of maintenance employees.

These days, we hear a lot from the union movement criticizing the CAQ government for seeking to limit its role as a counter-power within Quebec society.

This is because the Minister of Labor, Jean Boulet, tabled a bill on Thursday which would establish “optional contributions” for everything that does not directly affect the working conditions of union members.

In other words, the government would like to prevent unions from leading major social battles. He would seek to confine them to a strict role of collective agreement negotiators.

However, unions are much more than that; history reminds us that they have greatly contributed to the evolution of Quebec society. They made it fairer, more equitable, more united.

But when a public transport strike disproportionately affects the most vulnerable citizens of a society, this solidarity is sought in vain.