Montréal, Strikes and Me

Here we go again...

On June 2nd, the STM voted to go on strike for nine days, running from June 9th to the 17th. It will not be a total shutdown of the public transit system of my adopted hometown of Montréal, Quebec. Only certain hours of the day will see the buses and metro closed to the public, but still does not make it easier for the average commuter to plan their day-to-day activities...

...But I think that some of us are a little used to this.

This is not my first time at this particular rodeo; nor is it the first time for many of us in this city. According to a little research I've done online, the city has seen many strikes on behalf of the transit system. My first one was in 2010 when I had just finished graduate school; in 2013, I had steadier contracts and little chance to fulfill them when the next strike took place; by 2019, I barely noticed that there was a strike. The inoculation worked.

Now, by the title of this piece, you are probably expecting me to give you a neat list of all the things I intend to do over that plus-two-week period.

Well, screw you.

First, I just lost one of my bikes.

Let me explain: today, I visited a bike shop in this city called Recycle Cycle to get it repaired, only to be told that it would be cheaper to buy a bike from them than to have them repair the modernist art project I brought in for a fix. Now, they were kind and professional with me - their Yelp! review did not lie - and they even let me test drive a bike I could have bought to replace the one I dragged downtown over two separate metro lines. And I still could not afford it. My only wish now is to win the lottery (have to actually buy tickets again for that to happen), get more teaching contracts (at least online classes), win a Challenge (ahem) or find out that I have a rich relative who is willing to leave me in their will and leave me their fortune pre-mortem.

Now, I do have a touring bike, but Montréal is, from its name, mountainous (Mount Royal = Montréal). It won't do me much good pedaling up and down hills to get to work to look like I was competing with Lance Armstrong without the injections and all of the perspiration as I show up at an office for a class. So, that's out.

Second, as I said, the strike will not be consistent.

Let me explain further: the Grand Prix is coming to the province, and the politicians, vendors and the fans know it. No one wants to lose the revenue to be made by the fans I once encountered after mistakenly taking the one metro line to Parc Jean-Drapeau for the day and seeing all of those sunburned tourists (so much red on red). So, on the weekend of June 13th to the 15th, the strike will be forgotten.

This is completely unfair, and I think I detect a little resentment out there. These strikes have always been in the summer months, a small mercy, but with all of the problems we now face in the city - homelessness, job losses, rising rental and home costs - it may be the point to finally say, 'Enough!'

It may be time for us to really settle this matter and bring the workers on board and reduce the chances of another strike taking place in the near future.

Now, please excuse me. I have to contact a few students and see if I can move my lessons to Zoom.

And I'll keep you in the loop.

;

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You can find more poems, stories, and articles by Kendall Defoe on my Vocal profile. I complain, argue, provoke and create...just like everybody else.

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