Since midnight, buses of the capital’s transport network (RTC) no longer circulate. The strike could continue until July 13 if no agreement is concluded by then.
Friday noon, their absence was already felt on the road network. Several arteries, such as the Laurentian highway in southern direction and the capital of the capital in the two directions, were already blocked.
Many carpooling initiatives were born on social networks. A shuttle service was even created to transport festival-goers between Neufchâtel and the city center.
The day before, during the opening evening of the Quebec Summer Festival, the frustration of the participants was palpable.
“I don’t know how we’re going to do tomorrow,” says Laurence, in the queue for the Alessia Cara show. “We always come by bus. Maybe we’re going to try a car. But we may end up not coming, ”deplores the teenager.
The majority of RTC users encountered by the Soleil On the FEQ website claim that they will go to the city center by car during the strike.
Jade lives in Lévis. With the crossing of the crossing and that of the RTC, she expects the worst for the evening of Friday evening. “Traffic on the bridge is going to be hell,” she fears.
According to Maude Mercier Larouche, president of the RTC board of directors, the union takes “hostage” to the organization of the FEQ and the population with this strike.
No 30 % increase
In a statement released on Friday morning, the RTC support employees’ union wishes to “set the record straight”.
“It is the intransigence and nonchalance of the employers’ part that brings us there,” pleads Nicolas Louazel, president of the union. “They did not hesitate to sow the strike in the Quebec summer festival.”
In the last days, the union says it has presented no less than three global offers incorporating proposals and suggestions on the priority files of the employers’ part, such as the training and mobility of the workforce, without result.
The salary increase of 30 % over five years claimed at the start would no longer be part of the union’s requests. “We have compromised and counter-proposals on this subject,” reveals Frédéric Brun, president of the Federation of Public Services Employees (Feap-Csn).
The current collective agreement provides for an increase of 3% on July 1, 2025.
Average wages for maintenance employees, including benefits and overtime, are around $ 105,782 per year, according to the RTC. However, the union estimates that the average basic salary is rather between $ 75,000 and $ 80,000.
“Indecent”
Regarding the time of the strike, the union responds to criticism.
“It is indecent to reproach workers for choosing the moment when they have the best balance of power to improve their working conditions is the basis. Without that, we always have just crumbs, “raises Barbara Poirier, president of the Central Council of Quebec-Chaudière-Appalaches (CSN).
The union says it prefer to trigger the strike during the summer festival rather in “the other settlement window”, that is to say the start of the school year.
“It is less spectacular than a strike during the FEQ, but it is the regular customers of the RTC which would be most impacted by a strike at the start of the school year,” analyzes Barbara Poirier.
Mitigation measures
To “facilitate access to the festival” During the strike, Quebec police deploy various mitigation measures:
- Emergency corridors for the exclusive use of public security services will be set up in bus roads and delimited by orange cones. The police will ensure monitoring of the vehicles which will circulate there.
- From the lively corridor of Chemin Sainte-Foy, a crossing on the west side at the intersection of avenue de Bougainville will be fitted out to reach the marked cycle path of the Grande Allée.
- On a large alley of Belvédère at Avenue Taché, a marked cycle path as well as pedestrians will be available.
- Two land-in-law zones, at the Palais station and west of the Ring of the Plains of Abraham, more precisely on avenue Moncton between boulevard René-Lévesque west and large west alley.
- Spaces for bikes in the Jardin de Jeanne-d’Arc as well as in place of the National Assembly will be available.
Citizens must “anticipate a longer travel time in the city center and its surroundings”. They are invited to remain patients and courteous ”.
An operational coordination center will be set up to follow the situation.
