“We are not fighting to have the moon”: Autobus la Montréalaise on unlimited general strike from Monday morning

“We are not fighting to have the moon”: Autobus la Montréalaise on unlimited general strike from Monday morning
“We are not fighting to have the moon”: Autobus la Montréalaise on unlimited general strike from Monday morning

Around twenty school bus routes will be put on pause starting Monday, due to the indefinite general strike at Autobus la Montréalaise which will be declared Monday morning.

Members of the Union of Workers of Autobus la Montréalaise-CSN Division Montréal (STTALM-CSN-DM) will be on strike starting Monday morning. Around twenty bus routes will therefore be temporarily paused in Montreal.

The union is demanding from its employer, Transport scolaire Sogesco, an increase in the salaries of bus drivers, given the increase in the company’s revenues, showing a 25% increase in each contract signed with the Montreal School Service Center, explains Josée Dubé, vice-president of the Federation of Public Service Employees (FEESP-CSN).

“We don’t fight to have the moon, but they give us pinottes, and pinottes are for the squirrels,” she exclaims.

Mme Dubé explains that their employer, Sogesco, received this money from the government in 2022, but that, however, the drivers did not get a raise. Since June 2023, union members have been without a collective agreement.

A strike mandate was adopted by 95% on October 28 and the proposal made by the employer on Friday was rejected by 70%, leading to the continuation of the strike on Monday morning.

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«[Sogesco] always wants to play to the law of the strongest, adds Mme Dubé, they are banking on the fact that these people have low salaries and need these salaries so much week after week, […] that they will take the employer’s offer not to go on strike.”

Josée Dubé explains that it is always difficult for drivers to vote for a strike while being aware of the consequences: “It twists their hearts to know that these children will not be able to go to school by bus, but we are faced with a company that is not known for respecting its employees, students, or parents.”

Not the first time

Autobus la Montréalaise employees are not the first to strike against Sogesco.

In April 2024, Autobus Voltigeurs (Drummondville) and Autobus Camille-Mailloux (Rivière-du-Loup) went on strike against the company. In August, Autobus des Cantons employees were locked out and then went on strike for demands from the same employer.

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