Laval busses recalled for two-hour period

The drivers' union ordered all 150 busses to return to garages for inspection. Describing the action as an illegal strike, STL spokesperson Marc Laforge intimated that the corporation was considering disciplinary action. The Quebec Essential Services Council has been requested to force the union to compensate riders for loss of services engendered by the union's action.

Mired in controversy and conflict over lagging contract talks, the two sides are not likely to resolve their differences any time soon. This is of serious concern to STL authorities as they prepare to finalize details for the official opening of the Laval Metro on April 28.

Mr. Laforge says that the call by the union to take all busses off the road smacks of a syndical pressure tactic.

However, despite the fact that the maintenance union and the STL are presently engaged in contract talks, Mr. Laforge says he's certain that no act of sabotage was committed. "We are completely behind our employees and we are certain no deliberate act was committed on their part," Mr. Laforge states. The STL attributes the loss of the wheel to human error.

For his part, Richard Ouimet, president of the Syndicat des chauffeurs d'autobus de la Société de trasnport de Laval, is of the same opinion. "I've spoken to the maintenance union and would find it very difficult to believe that the maintenance people would do such things to a bus, knowing fully well the consequences that might occur as a result of such a break (in the wheel of a bus), Mr. Ouimet told Courrier Laval.

In addition, Mr. Ouimet stands behind the call to send the busses in for inspection, citing the safety and security of all concerned as a priority in these matters.

"Inagine a bus going at 80 kilometers an hour on the highway and the wheel comes off," he stated, adding that the union did not want to take any chances with the safety of the customers and the drivers who were transporting them on their busses.

Following the inspections, regular bus service resumed at around mid-day.