NOTE: The wildcat strike is now over.
Surprise disruption halts all TTC service
Hundreds of thousands of Toronto commuters scrambled for alternate ways to get to work Monday as a labour dispute shut down the Toronto Transit Commission.
There was little notice of what the TTC called “an illegal job action” by its 800 maintenance workers, which idled subways, streetcars and buses when it kicked in between 4 and 5 a.m. Doors to subway stations were locked and crowds of commuters began to build up at normally busy streetcar stops. “At this point, there will be no TTC service this morning,” the commission said in a news release early Monday. “Picket lines are preventing employees from entering the garages.” Shortly after 7 a.m., the TTC announced that the Ontario Labour Relations Board had issued a cease-and-desist order in response to the pickets. The commission urged its employees to report for work as usual as soon as the picket lines came down. Union says its workers were locked out
Union president Bob Kinnear denied his members had walked out, saying the TTC locked the gates before morning-shift workers arrived Monday. “We believe that we have been locked out at this point, ” he said. However, Toronto Mayor David Miller dismissed that claim. “What the union says doesn’t matter at this point,” he told CBC News just before 9 a.m. EDT. “We have an order declaring this an illegal strike.” There was no word on how soon service would be restored for the system’s 700,000 daily users. Asked how long the disruption would last, Kinnear replied: “I would assume that it would be at least for [Monday], depending on what happens down at the labour board.” At 8 a.m., the TTC issued another release saying union representatives at several locations were advising workers to defy the labour board’s order until they heard from Kinnear. The last Toronto Transit Commission strike, in 1999, was a legal walkout. It ended after two days, with the provincial government poised to legislate the drivers back to work. Walkout came as surprise to many On many Toronto streets, commuters who hadn’t heard about the stoppage showed up at their stops expecting their usual service Monday morning. Taxi drivers were having a busy morning, ferrying workers to their jobs at downtown businesses.
Meanwhile, many workers coming off night shifts had no way to get home, especially those whose wages aren’t high enough to cover long cab rides to a far-flung parts of the city. Toronto’s temperature was expected to soar to 30 C on Monday, aggravated by humidity and smog, which would make walking home an uncomfortable option for people getting off work later in the day. However, many people were bicycling to their jobs as Ride to Work Week began, avoiding the chaos that way. Dispute about changing hours of work The commission’s maintenance employees are objecting to changes to the work schedules of some of their colleagues. Managers want about 100 janitors and subway track workers who now work days to switch permanently to the night shift, saying it’s easier to clean stations and maintain tracks when the TTC is not in service. Kinnear told CBC News that the decision added to the growing frustrations of TTC employees over a variety of issues.
Speaking before the walkout began, Kinnear claimed he did not tell union members to walk off the job Monday, but said he understands why they might want to. TTC general manager Rick Ducharme said any work stoppage would violate the collective agreement that was signed last year. He had a message for Kinnear: “Live up to the terms of the agreement we negotiated last April. If you want other things and demands, this is no way to threaten the city … There’s a right way to do it — at a negotiation table.” Ducharme said the TTC could still operate without the 800 maintenance workers, but not for very long.
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Labour dispute halts Toronto transit
TERRY WEBER
Hundreds of thousands of Toronto commuters were left scrambling Monday when a surprise wildcat strike by unionized workers brought transit services in Canada’s biggest city to a halt just ahead of the morning rush.
The Toronto Transit Commission said it has cancelled morning subway, streetcar and bus service because picket lines prevented employees from entering TTC garages.
A message on the service’s Web site announced simply: “No TTC Service today.”
More than 700,000 people rely on the service each day. The TTC collects roughly 1.4 million fares each business day.
The disruption caught many by surprise.
“Who knew?” Anita Mazic, a Toronto TV producer who works downtown, said. “There was no warning.”
Even after news of the wildcat strike spread, commuters approached the doors of downtown subway stations, only to find them locked.
Cab companies were reporting at least one-hour waits for taxis. Major highways were jammed as many commuters opted to drive to work instead.
Ms. Mazic’s colleague, Wendy Bryan, biked in from Toronto’s West end.
“Good thing it was sunny and warm,” he said. “Most drivers on Queen Street were willing to share the road with bicycles, but it is still a bit of a battle with motorists for space on the road — even with no TTC streetcars.”
The last TTC strike took place in 1999. That disruption lasted two days before a deal was reached.
Last spring, the service narrowly avoided a strike when the two sides reached an 11th-hour agreement.
Ontario’s labour board quickly moved Monday to issue a cease and desist order to striking workers, responding to a request from the TTC.
The board said the workers – members of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 133 – were engaged in an unlawful strike. It also ordered the workers to return to work immediately. The TTC said picket lines remained at many sites around the city despite the order.
“It is now the responsibility of ATU Local 113 President, Bob Kinnear, and his union executive to tell the employees to return to work,” the TTC said, responding to the ruling.
In a statement issued earlier Monday, the TTC said commuters will have to find alternative transportation, at least during the morning rush.
“The public will have to defer their trips on the TTC this morning,” the TTC said.
It also said its employees who were reporting to work are being asked to stay at or near their work locations in case the picket lines are removed.
TTC general manager Rick Ducharme said he was still optimistic that a resolution could be reached soon.
“I’m still very positive that with the Ministry of Labour working both with human resources and now with the union lawyers that something can be worked out in the next hour or so,” Ducharme told CBC-TV shortly before 9:30 a.m.
The dispute centres on shifting for employees who do track maintenance and cleaning for the TTC.
The TTC wants 53 of 87 janitors and 53 of 91 subway track workers moved permanently to the night shift from day jobs as part of a cost-savings measure.
The union has also recently raised concerns about the rising level of violence faced by TTC employees. Last week, workers were told by the union to avoid fare disputes with customers.
Speaking with news channel CP24, Mr. Kinnear accused the service of painting his members into a corner.
“We believe that the company wanted to incite this,” he told the station.
“They wanted this to happen to [turn] the public against us…I guess they were successful to painting our members into a corner and giving them no other alternative.”
Toronto Mayor David Miller called on the province’s Labour Minister over the weekend for help and a provincial mediator was expected to contact both sides today to try to resolve the issues.
Mr. Miller, who was downtown early Monday to mark the start of bike-to-work week, said he was disappointed by the latest turn of events and said the city will take all legal steps to get the service moving again.
“I am extremely disappointed,” he told reporters.
“The labour board has ruled this is an illegal unlawful strike and it’s not acceptable to inconvenience nearly 2 million Torontonians in this way. It’s not acceptable.”
Once the picket lines come down, he said it would likely take two to three hours to get transit rolling again.
Asked if he expected the service to be running again by the end of the day, he replied: “I certainly hope so.”
TTC general manager Rick Ducharme told reporters if workers don’t respond to the cease-and-desist order, then the service will go to court to ask for an injunction.
“That’s a longer process,” he said.
With a report from Canadian Press
