No RTC buses will operate in the Quebec region if a strike by maintenance employees occurs in the coming weeks.
A possible walkout this winter will result in the complete interruption of public transportation service. A second 48-page judgment from the Administrative Labor Tribunal (TAT) has just resolved the dispute along the same lines.
Is it an essential service whose interruption could have the effect of endangering public health or safety? This is the only question the Court had to answer as part of its investigation.
In a decision rendered on November 19, 2024, Judge Pierre-Étienne Morand considers that the evidence does not demonstrate this danger.
No order to maintain essential services in the event of a strike will therefore be issued.
No danger
The Court was of the same opinion during the short drivers’ strike from July 1 to 5, 2023.
No buses traveled on the city’s roads until an agreement in principle reached between the parties put an end to the strike.
In the absence of buses, the modal shift towards automobiles results in 20,800 additional vehicles, the RTC estimated.
“The evidence submitted to the investigation, analyzed overall, does not support that a strike by RTC maintenance employees could endanger public health or safety, meaning a real, obvious and imminent threat” , we can read in conclusion.
Following this decision, the RTC reiterated its position that public transportation must be an essential service.
Changes
“The RTC disagrees with this decision,” management said.
The RTC was historically subject to the obligation to maintain essential services in the event of a strike.
Changes made to the Labor Code in 2019 by the National Assembly mean that it is now up to the TAT to issue an order for the maintenance of these services.
The negotiation process with the maintenance workers’ union began in October 2024.
No means of pressure likely to affect the service may be exercised before December 27, 2024.
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