Continuing their habit of expressing opinions on subjects that have nothing to do with labour issues, the CSQ is coming out against veiled voting.
Why? Who knows. But I guess there aren’t any Muslim members in this union.
Tag Archives: labour
For senators, working is optional
Two Liberal senators have had their pay docked for not showing up to work.
I mention this because of how the lead paragraph of the story is written:
Two Liberal senators have been fined for spotty attendance in the upper chamber during the last session of Parliament.
Fined. It implies punishment. When politicians or companies are fined, it’s supposed to be a big deal. To act as a deterrent, it’s supposed to result in a net negative for them. The whole point of fining is to make it less profitable for people to break the rules.
But let’s do a quick check of the math:
- Annual salary: $122,700
- Total meetings in the session: 113
- Salary per meeting: $1,085.84
- Fine, per sitting after 21 absences: $250
So let me get this straight: You get 21 freebies (not including sickness or “public business”), and after that you get fined $250 per sitting you miss, which is about a quarter of what you make for that sitting.
Quebec businessman Paul Massicotte was fined $2,750, or 2% of his salary, for missing 32 of 113 sittings, or 28%, without a valid excuse. Had he not showed up to work for a single day this past session, he would still have earned $100,000 or about 80% of his salary.
That doesn’t sound like much of a “fine” to me. No wonder these people have no motivation to show up.
Grownups’ turn to protest at Con U
The labour situation at Concordia just got a lot stickier, with a vote by its support staff union 95% in favour of authorizing a strike. They’ve been without a contract since 2002 and want pay increases.
If the strike occurs, it’ll be the first major test of president Claude Lajeunesse, who has so far presided over a university that has been uncharacteristically out of the headlines.
Bus drivers, show us your style
If you’re wondering why STM bus drivers aren’t wearing uniforms all of a sudden, it’s because they’re negotiating a new contract. Many public service workers who have severe limitations on the kinds of pressure tactics they can use (police officers, ambulance technicians and other essential services employees) use such cosmetic tactics to get their points across.
Scabs at the Journal de Québec
The Journal de Québec have won a case before the Commission des relations du travail du Québec, which ruled today that four employees of the newspaper were illegally working as scabs during the labour conflict which has dragged on since April. The Journal was criticized by its union for a sudden increase in the number of managers just before the lockout began.
For more information on the labour conflict, you can go to MediaMatinQuebec, the website setup by the locked-out workers.
MédiaMatinQuébec.com
Just learned that MédiaMatinQuébec, the free paper being run by locked-out workers at the Journal de Québec, has launched its website at MediaMatinQuebec.com.
And it’s already more impressive than any other Quebec media website. It’s fast, lean and easy-to-navigate.
You know, the more this conflict goes on, the more I think these workers should forget about the Journal and turn MédiaMatin into a business. Sell some more ads, rent a small office building and this could really be something.
Journal de Québec: only the beginning
The locked-out/on-strike workers at the Journal de Québec are getting money for the long-term. The FTQ’s mining union has offered a $750,000 interest-free loan, and other donations bring the figure they have to work with close to a million. The union, which is giddy over the extra money, now has a war chest to take this into the long haul.
The Journal has been producing mostly wire copy and Journal de Montréal stories since the labour disruption began in April.
Bureaucracy killed the Journal’s website
Ever wonder why the Journal de Montréal doesn’t have a real website? Legal reasons, apparently.
Apparently the Journal’s union contract has some vague language about the use of its members’ work on the Internet. It states that the Journal’s parent organization can use the content online, provided certain silly requirements are met (the Journal’s logo has to appear, and people can’t be assigned exclusively online unless they’re given a new job title or something).
An extra sentence added later says that the employer should negotiate before starting a new website.
The union tried to sue, claiming Quebecor broke the agreement by setting up this kinda-website without talking to them first.
The judge saw right through their flimsy argument, referring the case to union arbitration.
Hopefully that will talk some sense into both sides. This is a really stupid reason for the Journal not to have a true web presence for itself.
MédiaMatinQuébec hits two million
MédiaMatinQuébec, which has been produced by the workers of the Journal de Québec daily since the lock-out/strike started in April, has handed out its two-millionth copy.
The post contains an article which, though clearly one-sided (Quebecor wants to make as much money as possible — duh), has some insightful criticism of the way they’re gutting regional journalism when, if they really want to compete, they should be doing the opposite.
I’m tempted to compare this labour disruption, now in its third month, to the labour disruption that eventually led to the powerhouse Montreal Star in the 1970s. But the ubiquity of wire services makes me reconsider that conclusion. There are free newspapers out there like 24 Heures and Metro with no or little original reporting. But people still gobble them up.
Maybe that’s the future of media here. Big newspapers that photocopy New York Times features and briefs from Associated Press, and small community weeklies that produce fluff pieces by underpaid young journalists about that 100-year-old grandma and her war stories.
The way things are going, it’s hard not to be cynical.
UPDATE: For those of you curious, here’s a PDF version of a recent issue of the paper. Apparently they’re soon going to be going online. Which sounds great except that this is an unsustainable strike paper with no advertising or subscription revenue and far more staff than it needs.
Le Soleil: We don’t outsource (wink, wink)
Oh snap: Quebec City’s Le Soleil is not pulling any punches in its campaign to steal as many readers as possible from the Journal de Québec, whose workers are on the street and whose content is being generated elsewhere.
Perhaps this will make both sides realize that no matter how this goes, the real winner will be their competition.
Speaking of the workers, they’re calling a one-day boycott of the Journal a success without any evidence it was followed or made an impact.
The STM transit strike is over (for now)
STM maintenance workers are voting to approve an agreement in principle, ending Montreal’s strike after four days. The union’s executive has ordered employees back to work immediately. Service will resume slowly, with partial service tonight (they’ll get as many buses out as they can) and full service expected to resume tomorrow morning.
CBC Radio crack reporter Catherine Cullen is flirting with Bernie St-Laurent at the union meeting and reports the following:
- No deal has been reached on a contract. In fact, both sides are still at a stalemate, so the agreement only covers ending the strike and sending everyone back to work.
- The STM would reimburse transit users $3.50 ($2 for reduced passes) on their September passes to compensate for the reduced service.
- Montreal Museums Day is still on for Sunday and will have the free shuttle provided by the STM, however there will be only one transfer site at the Journal de Montréal on Frontenac.
Meanwhile, an hour after the strike was declared over, the English online media is still silent, despite the thousands of Montrealers who need to know how they’re getting home tonight (and couldn’t care less whether the government falls tomorrow, unless it’s through a coup). The CBC.ca story sits unchanged since 3:25, and The Gazette and CTV (can someone get them a copy of WordPress so they can build a real website?) still say it’s a deal in principle but the strike isn’t over.
Of course, it’s all an academic point I suppose. Everyone knows Fagstein is the city’s most trusted source for STM-strike-related information.
Revolutions are so disorganized
With today’s anti-STM-strike protest still 45 minutes away (wish I could go see it, but the buses won’t get me there fast enough), there are already rumours circulating of similar protests planned for Friday and Tuesday.
The media picked up on today’s protest (4pm, Berri-UQAM metro), so it may get some decent activity despite the last-minute planning.
UPDATE: Since there’s been no news following the protest, I’ll assume that it either didn’t happen or didn’t make much of an impact.
UPDATE (Fri. 4pm): Apparently nobody showed up but the media and a single organizer. I don’t know if I’d agree that it was “heavily hyped”. In fact, other than a La Presse brief, a vague Facebook post and some mentions on the morning all-news channels (which only the media watch anyway), nobody even knew about the protest.
Everything you need to know about the Montreal transit strike
UPDATED: Friday at 6:50pm – It’s over. STM and union negotiators have come to an agreement in principle. Service is resuming slowly. See the latest developments.
Just in case you were curious, no, there wasn’t a last-minute agreement between the STM (Société de Transport de Montréal) and its maintenance workers (the Syndicat du transport de Montréal). So the strike is on, and everyone’s going to need to spend more time planning how to get around town.
I’ll dispense with telling you the blindingly obvious (bike, walk, carpool, taxi) and get down to some things people have been confused about with the coming strike.
The basics
- The people on strike are maintenance workers, not bus drivers and metro ticket-takers. They belong to a different union, so don’t blame them for the disruption.
- Service is still being provided during rush hours and late at night, on a schedule established by the essential services council.
- Nobody knows how long the strike will last (basically it’s until one side cracks from the pressure), but the last strike was 8 days long if you need a ballpark figure. The union insists it could be over “in minutes” while the STM and city warn it could be a long strike.
- The government has the power to impose a settlement through legislation, but is reluctant to do so. Nevertheless, the labour minister has given both sides a 48-hour deadline as of Wednesday to settle the conflict.
The timing
Buses and metros will work on the following schedule:
- Weekdays: 6:00-9:00, 15:30-18:30, 23:00-01:00
- Weekends: 6:00-9:00, 14:00-17:00, 23:00-01:00
At the start of these periods, buses will start up mid-route wherever they would normally be at that time. And any bus that starts will finish, even if it reaches its terminus after the service period is over. (Note: This works out for most routes, however some longer ones like the 211 may lose a departure or two at the end due to logistical problems — the last departure of the morning 211 Westbound is at 8:39am)
Metro trains will also start mid-route at various points in the network. Stations open 15 minutes before the first train, and schedules are posted at metro entrances.
The metro end-times are somewhat complex:
- Green (1) and Orange (2) lines: Last trains start at the two terminuses at the end of the morning service period (9:00am), passing through Berri-UQAM at 9:25. For the afternoon and evening periods, the last trains will depart the terminuses 20 minutes before the end of the service period (6:10/4:40pm, 12:40am), all passing through Berri-UQAM at the last minute of the period.
- Yellow (4) starts from both terminuses at the end of the service period
- Blue (5) starts from both terminuses at the end of the morning and afternoon service periods. The last trains of each day leave at 12:15am as they normally do.
The STM has replaced its normal bus and metro scheduling pages with a hacked-together system that notes which bus stops are cancelled and when metros will run through a particular station. In case you’re unclear about a particular departure, check the STM’s website and it will give you a definitive answer.
All this being said, this strike is still nothing short of chaos for STM management. So expect the network in general to be less reliable than normal and give yourself a margin for error.
Services unaffected
- AMT commuter trains are not run by the STM, so they will be running on a normal schedule.
- Those of you who have not taken commuter trains before should know that regular bus pases are not accepted on board. Individual tickets are $3.75 to $5.25 on the island, one-way. Check the link to confirm rates and zones.
- In a hilarious twist of irony, an unrelated CP Rail labour conflict may cause delays on the Blainville, Dorion and Delson train lines. The Deux-Montagnes line is unaffected (it’s run by CN).
- Just in case you thought it couldn’t get worse, the AMT is coincidentally experiencing technical problems with its diesel-powered trains the likes of which it hasn’t seen in decades.
- Transit service in Laval (STL) and the south shore (RTL) as well as other off-island-run services are unaffected. In fact, the STL will be increasing service on lines that come onto the island to compensate for the STM strike, including running their night-time shuttle between Montmorency and Henri-Bourassa during the daytime when metro service is not running in Laval.
- Paratransit service is considered essential and will run on a normal schedule.
Cancelled services
- Night buses will not be running (they all fall out of the service periods)
- School extras (special buses added to handle increased loads from people leaving classes) will be suspended. So if you take the bus with lots of other people from high school, consider other transportation options or a long wait.
The demands
The STM is demanding/offering a five-year contract with:
- Pension eligibility be reduced by five years (meaning you’ll have to work five years longer, or be five years older, before you qualify for the same benefits)
- Reduced pension benefits for those retiring after 2019
- No salary increase this year
- A 2% salary increase for each of the next four years
The union wants a three-year contract with:
- No changes to pensions (they’ve since offered to take the cost for this out of the salary increase)
- A 2% salary increase for each of the next three years plus cost-of-living protection which would add on another 1-3% per year
The history
2,142 maintenance workers, who comprise people like mechanics and janitorial staff but not bus drivers, metro booth operators or supervisors, last went on strike in November of 2003. That strike lasted 8 days. Their latest contract ended Jan. 6, 2007, and they voted to strike on March 4. On May 6 they set the date for the strike.
There have been 15 transit strikes in the past 40 years. The longest was in 1974 when maintenance workers shut down the metro (but not buses) for 44 days.
The politics
Both sides are trying to win this battle in the court of public opinion. The STM took out a full-page ad in Wednesday’s papers.
The union says:
- They are paid less than private-sector counterparts
- They have been open to negotiating at any time (while the STM team goes home at 5 p.m.)
- They are paid less and get less benefits than Laval transit maintenance workers
- They have already made concessions and are willing to end the strike even with only partial concessions from the STM
- The strike is our fault
- Other arguments summarized on this blog post
The STM says:
- The deal they offered is the same one being given to other city unions
- They have a $22 million deficit this year and can’t afford more money
- The union has been without a contract for only a few months and are “taking the city hostage”
- Their benefits package (especially the pension) make up for any salary difference with private-sector maintenance workers
So far most people are on the STM’s side, noting that $22-$25 an hour is a lot to pay someone to clean vomit off a metro station floor, and that those suffering from this strike are mostly the poor and working class.
The media have come largely on the STM’s side as well, with The Gazette, La Presse (again) and Le Devoir all printing editorials saying the union already has the rights it needs and the strike is overkill. Of course, the crazy union lefties don’t like that idea.
The law
This is a perfectly legal strike. The government has the power, through special legislation, to force and end to the disruption or force a settlement. However, a mutually-agreeable settlement is far preferable to this drastic action. Though some people suggest that charter rights have somehow been violated, no court has ruled that convenient public transit is a charter right.
Your employer has no obligation to change any working conditions due to the strike. This includes changing your schedule, compensating you for cab use, providing alternative transportation, or anything else you might think you deserve because you work at odd hours. You’re still responsible for getting to work on time and working whatever hours you’ve agreed to. Unless public transit is part of your job somehow, the strike becomes your problem, not theirs.
You may be eligible for a partial refund of your monthly or weekly transit pass once this is over. After the 2003 strike, the STM offered a $5 discount for the following February 2004 bus pass ($2.50 for reduced-fare passes). Three years later, it settled a class action lawsuit and discounted $2 off the November 2006 transit pass ($1 off the reduced pass). Hold on to this week’s/month’s pass in case it becomes necessary. Note, however, that it could be a while before you see anything, and it won’t be that much.
Alternatives
Among the more interesting alternatives, CJAD is turning this into an opportunity for a publicity stunt, offering a free shuttle from the West Island to downtown during the strike (between 9 a.m. and 4 p.m.).
The Journal today has a list of ride-sharing services, where you can offer and look for a partner to carpool with. And there’s always communauto, which is bound to be busier than normal.
As expected, at least one taxi driver (whose blog is apparently the second-most influential in Quebec) is going to profit heavily from very angry people.
How about informal taxis? Hitch-hike with a tip in hand.
Protests
Though it won’t get you to your destination any faster, writing angry letters might help alleviate your stress a bit.
Or if that’s too much for you, just join the “I don’t support the strike” Facebook group. Or the other “I don’t support the strike” Facebook group. Or the other one. Or the other one. Or this one. Or that one. Or the one over there. Or this one right here. Or this group. Or that group. Or this one. Or that one. Or that one. Or, if you support the strike, join the lone Facebook group that’s taking their side.
So far at least one online petition has started up demanding the government legislate an end to the strike.
The first (and only) attempted protest against the strike by concerned citizens is planned for Thursday at 4pm at Emily-Gamelin Park (aka Berri Square, corner Berri and Ste-Catherine). It was an utter failure, with only three people showing up (not including the media).
Finally, just to balance things out, here’s an interesting blog post arguing that the union’s demands are justified in the big picture.
The strike is on, unless the union caves
Le Devoir has an opinion from STM chair Claude Trudel explaining the company side of the labour dispute that will take public transit off the road on Tuesday morning.
While it’s obvious he’s sugarcoating his own position on the matter, it’s hard to see how the STM doesn’t have the upper hand on this. Public opinion is on their side, despite valiant efforts by maintenance workers to justify the $22-25 an hour they’re paid (plus overtime) to keep 40-year-old equipment running smoothly for hundreds of thousands of kilometres per year. And the city’s position, that everyone has to get the same deal, makes sense. And it’s not like the STM is swimming in profit either.
When the strike starts at 12:01am Tuesday morning (or perhaps more accurately at 1:01am since they’re supposed to have late-night service), people will have to find alternative ways to get around:
- Taxi drivers will get a much-needed funding boost
- Bicycle use will skyrocket (also because of the nice weather)
- Commuter train use will be even more unbearable than it already is (ATM is unaffected by the STM maintenance workers’ strike, however the Blainville, Rigaud and Delson lines might see delays because of an unrelated CP rail strike)
- People might actually decide to get out and walk to places
Most importantly, the strike will send people back to their cars, and may convince some people that the uncertainty of public transit isn’t worth leaving their SUV at home.
More media drama at the Journal de Québec
As the Quebecor-owned newspaper’s workers are still locked out of their offices and producing an alternative free paper, journalists at its sister paper the Journal de Montréal are asking their bosses not to publish their stories in the Journal de Québec. Meanwhile, a media snipe-fest is going on as TVA pulled ads for Le Soleil which trumpeted it as “le vrai journal de Québec” in an effort to win over some readers.
Could the Journal de Québec be the next Montreal Star? Or does the pervasiveness of wire services make local journalists truly obsolete?