Lisa Djevahirdjian | CUPE Communications
Bus drivers, para-transit drivers and fare collectors launched an awareness campaign targeting the general public and public transit users in Montréal. These members of CUPE 1983 launched the campaign to help Montrealers understand the work they do.
As part of the campaign, 460 posters and panels featuring real Société de transport de Montréal (STM) workers were posted on buses, at select metro stations and at a number of bus shelters.
The tag line of the campaign: “Salut! On se ressemble, on est du même monde” (“Hi! We’re people just like you”), highlights both the human side and the great diversity of these STM workers who interact with the public. Conceived with the goal of helping to build trust and a personal connection between users and the workers who provide transportation services to Montrealers around the clock, the campaign has been a big success.
“We decided to reach out directly to users to let them know that we’re ordinary people just like them and are here to serve them,” said CUPE 1983 President Renato Carlone. “We’re hoping that this campaign will help users to look at our bus drivers in a new light.”
The campaign was launched on Facebook over 15 weeks. Each week, a worker was featured on the social media platform along with a personal testimonial about why their work is important to them.
Their reasons include striving to keep users safe, working in a sector that plays an important role in protecting the environment and promoting future economic development, getting fulfilment from working closely with the public and being on the receiving end of hundreds of smiles every day.
