Montrealer commuters are being warned to expect a long strike by maintenance workers at the Montreal Transit Corporation as they are scheduled to walk off the job on Tuesday.

Transit chair Claude Trudel said Friday the workers' demands are "unrealistic and unjustifiable."

The corporation won a major victory Thursday when the province's Essential Services Council ordered the workers to provide more services than they did during their last strike in November 2003.

During that strike, there was no weekend service on the metro. This time, the council has ordered full weekend service during peak hours.

About 2,200 transit maintenance employees have been working without a contract since January. They voted earlier this month to strike May 22 if a new deal isn't reached.

Wage increases and the corporation's pension plan are the main sticking points in negotiations. Workers are asking for a two per cent raise every year over the next three years.

The corporation is offering two per cent a year over a three-year period, but not starting until 2008.

Union spokesman Denis Bonneau said recently the maintenance workers want wage increases on a par with those won by workers in Laval and Longueuil in their most recent collective agreements.

"We're doing the same job. We want the same thing," Bonneau said.

The City of Montreal has told the transit corporation it can't afford raises this year because of an island-wide wage freeze in the last municipal budget designed to curb a growing deficit.

If the parties don't reach an agreement by Monday night, maintenance workers said they will walk off the job at 12:01 a.m. Tuesday.