It’s going to snow this weekend, the big holiday markets have opened in Montreal and we’re planning to pick up (and carry with great grace) a tree for our apartment this weekend.
It’s Friday, the city is looking more and more charming, and unfortunately we’re getting some distressing news about the state of public transport in December. Everyone panics.
Fortunately, with a little research, we’ve found that the STM strike that’s been announced might not be as dramatic as we thought. We’ll be able to leave our sleds and toboggans at home instead of using them to get down from the Plateau to work downtown – with a bit of luck…
The strike: Why? For Whom?
This isn’t the first time this year that the maintenance workers’ union has filed a strike notice in response to the slow pace of negotiations with the STM for better working conditions and wages.
The threat of the passage of Bill 14 (which locks the union into a strike notice) in early November 2025 forced the union to make a strategic withdrawal in the hope that the bill would be struck down and they could return to the negotiating table with the STM. That’s why the November strike, scheduled to last the whole month, was lifted earlier than planned.
This maneuver seems to have been unsuccessful, as the union is today filing a notice of overtime strike from December 9, 2025 to January 11, 2026.
Practical info
The good news is that, for the time being, the STM has announced that the strike will not affect bus and metro travel, and that public transport schedules and throughput will be maintained.
The strike may have an impact on “service delivery”, according to Info Grève, so we recommend that you expect some minor slowdowns, but nothing to spoil Christmas…
We’ll let you know as soon as we know more!