On the green line of Montreal’s metro, a poster shows a quiet bus shelter at night, with a bold red headline above that asks: “Would you take your break here?” Beneath, in smaller print: “Like you, we would like to work in safety. For you, we accept too many risks.” “Would you take your break here?” immediately invokes empathy and sets the emotional tone: “of course not...”
Produced by the Syndicat Canadien de la Fonction Publique (SCFP), this ad is part of a growing call from Société de Transport de Montréal (STM) workers for dignity and safety in their working conditions. The SCFP Section 1983 union represents over 4,500 STM workers, including bus and paratransit vehicle drivers, metro operators, station agents, as well as maintenance, technical, and administrative staff. It has maintained a collaborative relationship with the STM, with no strikes since 1987. However, with negotiations over new collective agreements stalling, and what the union sees as significant setbacks in working conditions, 99% of members have voted in favour of escalating pressure, including the possibility of an unlimited strike. A partial strike took place between June 9th and June 17th, during the high-profile Grand Prix weekend.
One of the central concerns raised by the union is the conditions faced by STM workers on night shifts. While official schedules show 7.5-hour workdays, the fragmented structure of their shifts – often two or three per day – means that workers are out of their homes for up to 14 hours. In between shifts, they wait in metro stations, on sidewalks, and often in isolated bus shelters with nowhere to eat or rest. Sometimes there is nowhere to even use the bathroom, except for the occasional business owner willing to let them in during the cold months.
The STM relies on more than 150 relief points scattered across the city, where workers begin or end their shift. Relief points are rarely in the same place, and getting between them can require two to three buses, many of which run infrequently, especially at night. For night shift workers especially, a missed connection can lead to a long and cold wait in the dark, standing alone on the corner of a street regardless of weather. For single parents and caregivers, the schedule makes family life nearly impossible to sustain.
This year’s negotiations have drawn a hard line between workers’ demands and STM’s offers. The union is asking for a 25% wage increase over five years, while the STM has proposed just 11%. But the fight goes beyond pay. Workers are demanding more humane schedules, less subcontracting, and recognition of the invisible labour they do to keep the city running, even when no one sees them.
The STM may argue that its 24/7 operations require flexibility, but the conditions faced by its night shift workers expose a deeper failure – one not only of labour policy, but of design. Across Montreal, there is an absence of architectural spaces that support the basic needs of transit workers who operate the city at night. There are no warm, safe places to rest between shifts, no dedicated rooms to eat a meal or use the bathroom – only street corners, bus shelters, and metro platforms. This spatial neglect reflects a city that relies on night workers but refuses to plan for their care. The fragmented schedules, unpaid transit time, and lack of proper facilities demonstrate a broader disregard for the people behind the service. The strike mandate and demands of SCFP 1983 are more than a bargaining tool; they are a powerful denunciation of a city that has yet to design for and with its essential night shift workers.
References
“Info Strike.” 2023. Société de Transport de Montréal. 2023. https://www.stm.info/en/info/service-updates/info-strike.
Le 1983. 2025. https://le1983.ca/77
Yanez-Leyton, Cassandra. 2025. “STM Maintenance Workers Say They Might Strike Again If Negotiations Don’t Speed Up.” CBC. July 17, 2025. https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/montreal/stm-maintenance-workers-labour-negotiation-1.7587708.