Subcontracting, modification of collective agreements, review of governance: barely made public, the performance audits ordered by Quebec raise fears of setbacks in public transport, a vision that the Minister of Transport refutes.
Posted at 4:57 p.m.
“We have no choice but to make changes, and it certainly takes courage. […] But we cannot advocate the status quo either,” Minister Geneviève Guilbault argued Thursday in response to our questions during a press conference.
Earlier, Thursday, The Press revealed that the report from the firm Raymond Chabot Grant Thornton (RCGT), commissioned by Quebec, concluded that transport companies could reduce their expenses by 350 million.
Experts propose, for example, subcontracting the driver service externally, a measure which would free 72 million, or even reducing the number of vehicles in preventive maintenance and in reserve, to save 47 million. It is also suggested to reduce the number of elected officials on boards of directors.
It also indicates that certain clauses of collective agreements harm the performance of transport companies, including the “compartmentalization of positions, the impossibility [de sous-traiter]labor movement clauses and priority to seniority rather than skills.”
“The structure prevents less busy employees from going to support other sectors,” argued Thursday the partner at RCGT, Nicolas Plante, who also believes that the working hours are too “rigid” and “that the assignments are sometimes six months in advance.
Worried unions
PHOTO ALAIN ROBERGE, THE PRESS
The president of the STM Bus Drivers Union, Frédéric Therrien
For the unions, this is a political calculation. “The minister and the CAQ decide once again to attack the employees and residents of Montreal […] rather than investing heavily in public transportation as is necessary,” said the president of the STM Bus Drivers’ Union, Frédéric Therrien.
His group deplores that this report appears “strangely” at a time when negotiations are underway for the renewal of the next collective agreement for drivers, which expires on January 5.
“They say it won’t impact the service. I guarantee you that these measures will have an impact,” added Mr. Therrien. A concern shared by the TRANSIT Alliance, an organization dedicated to financing public transport.
The president of the CSN, Caroline Senneville, affirms that “saving money by relying on subcontracting is not a good way to see things”. “We would lose expertise and create coordination problems in the network,” she notes.
About 64% of carrier expenses come from employee salaries, counters Mme Guilbault. “It is a significant source of expenditure and on the other hand a source of limitation of the possibilities of action, which could generate savings. » “There is nothing to worry about,” she adds on the subject of subcontracting, calling for us to “get rid of this fear that the private sector is bad”.
In opposition, PQ member Joël Arseneau believes that the intention “seems to be more of a political maneuver which, by devaluing the work of transport companies, serves to justify government underinvestment in public transport”. “If the minister thinks that her false performance audits will convince us to stop financing public transport, she is wrong,” illustrates the solidarity activist, Etienne Grandmont.
The carriers, finally, say they take note of the report, while defending their actions. “Transport companies know their organization well, both their strengths and their areas for improvement, and did not wait for the auditors to come to implement several optimization avenues,” said the CEO of the STM, Marie- Claude Léonard, whose team has already committed to reducing its expenses by 100 million over five years.
