SFUVancouver
04-26-2008, 05:13 AM
Toronto commuters stunned as transit union walks off the job
Last Updated: Saturday, April 26, 2008 | 1:03 AM ET
CBC News (source) (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/04/25/ttc.html)
Transit riders across Toronto were shocked to discover locked-up subway stations and out-of-service buses starting at midnight Friday after the Toronto Transit Commission walked off the job in a surprise strike.
A news release from the Amalgamated Transit Union's Local 113 went out just over an hour before the strike began announcing 65 per cent of its members had voted against ratifying a tentative contract agreement reached last weekend.
Mayor David Miller blasted the union for failing to provide 48-hours notice of a strike. "This is unacceptable and it's also irresponsible," he told a news conference.
Miller said Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has agreed to help by trying to introduce back-to-work legislation.
"I informed the mayor that we will be proceeding with back-to-work legislation at the first available opportunity," McGuinty said in a release early Saturday.
The vote came as a surprise for many Torontonians who thought they were in the clear after the union, representing about 8,900 operating and maintenance employees, reached a last-minute deal last Sunday in time to avert a strike the next day. At the time, commuters were given 48-hours notice.
But Bob Kinnear, the head of the Amalgamated Transit Union, defended the suddenness of the walkout, saying it was to protect the safety of TTC workers.
He said in a news release that TTC workers were the target of threats and abuse from passengers last weekend after the union gave its original two days' strike notice.
"We have assessed the situation and decided that we will not expose our members to the dangers of assaults from angry and irrational members of the public," Kinnear said.
"We have a legal responsibility to protect the safety of our members and so does the TTC."
But many commuters were caught unaware late Friday night and were frustrated by the lack of notice this time around.
Angela Dugas, 22, who works at the University of Toronto library, said her supervisor rushed over around 11 p.m. ET to tell her about the strike and let her leave early so she could try to get home in time.
"I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for Monday," said Dugas, who relies entirely on the TTC because can't hold a driver's licence because of epilepsy.
She said she's conflicted because she does know people who work with the transit service, but called the lack of notice "ridiculous."
Other commuters were arriving at stations to find the doors already locked. Amber Brown was dropped off by friends at Woodbine station to discover the TTC was on strike. "That's crazy," she said.
"I don't think they should be allowed to go on strike," she said, adding that it will leave the city paralyzed.
The Ministry of Labour has asked both parties to return to the bargaining table at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The union said it will meet Saturday morning to discuss its next steps and wouldn't speak to the media until after that.
The union said it will be meeting Saturday morning to discuss its next steps and wouldn't speak to the media until after that discussion.
About 1.5 million riders use the TTC every workday.
----
Striking TTC workers will be ordered back, Miller says
UNNATI GANDHI AND JEFF GRAY
Globe and Mail (source) (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080426.wttc0425/BNStory/National/home)
April 26, 2008 at 12:52 AM EDT
TORONTO — A visibly angry David Miller said he has secured an agreement with the province to bring in back-to-work legislation as soon as possible after thousands of transit riders found themselves stranded Saturday morning when TTC workers went out on strike.
Subways, streetcars and buses ground to a halt at midnight.
The mayor told a late night, hurriedly arranged press conference at city hall that the union's decision to walk out after the failing to ratify a tentative agreement, and abandon an earlier pledge to give Torontonians 48-hours notice of any strike, was “unacceptable” and “irresponsible.”
He said he had demanded in a phone conversation with union leader Bob Kinnear that he give 48 hours notice, but Mr. Kinnear refused.
“We've got people downtown tonight who might have relied on public transit. How are they going to get home?” Mr. Miller asked.
In a statement e-mailed to The Globe and Mail, Premier Dalton McGuinty said he will “proceed with back to work legislation at the first available opportunity to end service disruption with the TTC.”
It was unclear whether the legislation – which would require all-party approval to pass quickly – could be passed in an emergency session of the legislature tomorrow. City hall sources suggested this was possible.
Mr. Miller also said he would be reconsidering his opposition to the idea of having the province declare the TTC an essential service, like police or firefighters, to take away the union's right to strike permanently.
The tentative deal required a 50-per-cent plus one vote to pass.
Instead, 65 per cent of votes by members of Local 113 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents 9,000 operating and maintenance Toronto Transit Commission employees, were cast against the tentative agreement.
“We have assessed the situation and decided that we will not expose our members to the dangers of assaults from angry and irrational members of the public,” Mr. Kinnear said in a statement.
“The reports from our members of increases in threats and abuse from passengers last weekend, after we gave our original 48-hours' notice, has left us no choice but to withdraw our services immediately. We have a legal responsibility to protect the safety of our members and so does the TTC.”
He said the union would not make any further comments until a meeting with the union board's executives Saturday morning.
The TTC maintenance workers – known to be a more militant wing of the union that is believed to have instigated the one-day illegal strike in May, 2006 – were reportedly unhappy with the tentative deal, raising concerns about contracting out repairs to buses.
But the TTC suggested in a statement Friday night that there was no issue around contracting out in the tentative agreement, saying that its bus manufacturer “is responsible” for repairs under warranty, but that in fact a “substantial amount” of that work is actually done by TTC employees and charged back to the bus company.
In the last legal walkout by TTC workers was in 1999, which lasted two days, traffic congestion increased but the worst-case scenarios feared by some city officials did not materialize.
The surprise strike came after a tumultuous two weeks of negotiations and meetings.
An eleventh-hour deal last Sunday came just in time to avert a strike that would have paralyzed the city last Monday morning.
But after a meeting held for union members to discuss the deal Wednesday night, reports of discontent among union executive board members and the transit agency's maintenance workers began to circulate.
Friday night's vote confirmed those fears.
Subway, streetcar, bus and Scarborough RT service is cancelled until further notice. Limited Wheel-Trans service, however, will remain in place for customers who must attend medical appointments for chemotherapy, dialysis and other life-threatening illnesses, the TTC said in a statement.
On the streets, TTC riders and drivers alike were caught by surprise.
In the minutes before midnight word of the strike spread among TTC riders unsure of how they'd get home.
“Fuck TTC, Fuck TTC!” chanted one group of disgruntled riders outside the Davisville subway station.
Minutes earlier, Al Evans, a bus driver, had pulled the 97A bus out of the depot and embarked north on Yonge Street.
“No one's told me anything about a strike,” he said, as he began to radio central command.
“I hope there isn't one because it's Friday night and people got to get home.”
Mr. Evans said he voted no to the agreement because he had friends who were maintenance workers, and it didn't look out for their interests.
“I didn't see anything wrong with the transit side of things, but I had to vote no because they're contracting out the maintenance work,” he said. “That's what a union is all about, you got to look out for your co-workers.”
John Conley, 32, was riding eastbound on the Bloor-Danforth line when he heard the news. He uses the subway every day to go to work at Yonge and Front as a bank manager. The only alternative he has to get there from his Avenue Road and St. Clair Avenue home is to walk.
“It's going to put the city into gridlock. That's unfortunate.”
Another reason he doesn't like the strike: “I might have to cancel a date on Saturday. That would suck. I don't get many of those.”
Roughly 1.4 million riders use the transit system every day.
GO Transit, which saw a big increase in ridership in the 1999 strike, has warned that it has no extra buses or trains to alleviate crowding in the event of a TTC walkout.
Meanwhile, taxi companies were bracing for a busier than normal Saturday morning as stranded passengers looked for ways home.
Royal Taxi shift supervisor Daniel Ghirmay said the company had “an emergency plan in place” and that extra drivers had been called in.
Workers at the Wilson subway storage yard said they were not allowed to comment on the situation. One did say, however, that he hoped a contract could be reached before Monday morning.
“I don't think anyone is happy about this, but I guess someone thinks this is a good idea,” said the worker.
As the midnight shift at the Hillcrest maintenance yard drew to a close, a small group of workers assembled to talk amongst themselves as TTC special constables arrived to discuss gate security.
One passer-by hurled her frustration toward those in the yard.
“Bunch of selfish bastards,” she hissed as she walked by.
Employees in their cars left the complex hastily, refusing to speak to a Globe and Mail reporter.
Toronto police Inspect Cory Bockus said all units had been made aware of the strike, and were ready for any spontaneous bouts of anger.
The deal, which critics of Mayor David Miller have argued was too generous, offered TTC workers improved health benefits and three years of 3-per-cent annual wage increases, that will make TTC drivers the best paid in the Greater Toronto Area.
But in a clause seized on by critics, the deal also offers bus drivers an additional raise in December of 2009 if their pay falls behind that of other Toronto-area drivers, something the union says it deserves because of the demands of driving a bus or a streetcar in the city.
With reports from Kate Hammer, James Bradshaw, Colin MacKenzie, Joy Yokoyama, Melissa Whetstone, and Evan Annett
-----
I sure hope for the sake of Torontonians that this is all quickly resolved. I still vividly remember Vancouver's summer-long bus strike back in 2001.
Last Updated: Saturday, April 26, 2008 | 1:03 AM ET
CBC News (source) (http://www.cbc.ca/canada/story/2008/04/25/ttc.html)
Transit riders across Toronto were shocked to discover locked-up subway stations and out-of-service buses starting at midnight Friday after the Toronto Transit Commission walked off the job in a surprise strike.
A news release from the Amalgamated Transit Union's Local 113 went out just over an hour before the strike began announcing 65 per cent of its members had voted against ratifying a tentative contract agreement reached last weekend.
Mayor David Miller blasted the union for failing to provide 48-hours notice of a strike. "This is unacceptable and it's also irresponsible," he told a news conference.
Miller said Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty has agreed to help by trying to introduce back-to-work legislation.
"I informed the mayor that we will be proceeding with back-to-work legislation at the first available opportunity," McGuinty said in a release early Saturday.
The vote came as a surprise for many Torontonians who thought they were in the clear after the union, representing about 8,900 operating and maintenance employees, reached a last-minute deal last Sunday in time to avert a strike the next day. At the time, commuters were given 48-hours notice.
But Bob Kinnear, the head of the Amalgamated Transit Union, defended the suddenness of the walkout, saying it was to protect the safety of TTC workers.
He said in a news release that TTC workers were the target of threats and abuse from passengers last weekend after the union gave its original two days' strike notice.
"We have assessed the situation and decided that we will not expose our members to the dangers of assaults from angry and irrational members of the public," Kinnear said.
"We have a legal responsibility to protect the safety of our members and so does the TTC."
But many commuters were caught unaware late Friday night and were frustrated by the lack of notice this time around.
Angela Dugas, 22, who works at the University of Toronto library, said her supervisor rushed over around 11 p.m. ET to tell her about the strike and let her leave early so she could try to get home in time.
"I'm just keeping my fingers crossed for Monday," said Dugas, who relies entirely on the TTC because can't hold a driver's licence because of epilepsy.
She said she's conflicted because she does know people who work with the transit service, but called the lack of notice "ridiculous."
Other commuters were arriving at stations to find the doors already locked. Amber Brown was dropped off by friends at Woodbine station to discover the TTC was on strike. "That's crazy," she said.
"I don't think they should be allowed to go on strike," she said, adding that it will leave the city paralyzed.
The Ministry of Labour has asked both parties to return to the bargaining table at 1 p.m. Saturday.
The union said it will meet Saturday morning to discuss its next steps and wouldn't speak to the media until after that.
The union said it will be meeting Saturday morning to discuss its next steps and wouldn't speak to the media until after that discussion.
About 1.5 million riders use the TTC every workday.
----
Striking TTC workers will be ordered back, Miller says
UNNATI GANDHI AND JEFF GRAY
Globe and Mail (source) (http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/story/RTGAM.20080426.wttc0425/BNStory/National/home)
April 26, 2008 at 12:52 AM EDT
TORONTO — A visibly angry David Miller said he has secured an agreement with the province to bring in back-to-work legislation as soon as possible after thousands of transit riders found themselves stranded Saturday morning when TTC workers went out on strike.
Subways, streetcars and buses ground to a halt at midnight.
The mayor told a late night, hurriedly arranged press conference at city hall that the union's decision to walk out after the failing to ratify a tentative agreement, and abandon an earlier pledge to give Torontonians 48-hours notice of any strike, was “unacceptable” and “irresponsible.”
He said he had demanded in a phone conversation with union leader Bob Kinnear that he give 48 hours notice, but Mr. Kinnear refused.
“We've got people downtown tonight who might have relied on public transit. How are they going to get home?” Mr. Miller asked.
In a statement e-mailed to The Globe and Mail, Premier Dalton McGuinty said he will “proceed with back to work legislation at the first available opportunity to end service disruption with the TTC.”
It was unclear whether the legislation – which would require all-party approval to pass quickly – could be passed in an emergency session of the legislature tomorrow. City hall sources suggested this was possible.
Mr. Miller also said he would be reconsidering his opposition to the idea of having the province declare the TTC an essential service, like police or firefighters, to take away the union's right to strike permanently.
The tentative deal required a 50-per-cent plus one vote to pass.
Instead, 65 per cent of votes by members of Local 113 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, which represents 9,000 operating and maintenance Toronto Transit Commission employees, were cast against the tentative agreement.
“We have assessed the situation and decided that we will not expose our members to the dangers of assaults from angry and irrational members of the public,” Mr. Kinnear said in a statement.
“The reports from our members of increases in threats and abuse from passengers last weekend, after we gave our original 48-hours' notice, has left us no choice but to withdraw our services immediately. We have a legal responsibility to protect the safety of our members and so does the TTC.”
He said the union would not make any further comments until a meeting with the union board's executives Saturday morning.
The TTC maintenance workers – known to be a more militant wing of the union that is believed to have instigated the one-day illegal strike in May, 2006 – were reportedly unhappy with the tentative deal, raising concerns about contracting out repairs to buses.
But the TTC suggested in a statement Friday night that there was no issue around contracting out in the tentative agreement, saying that its bus manufacturer “is responsible” for repairs under warranty, but that in fact a “substantial amount” of that work is actually done by TTC employees and charged back to the bus company.
In the last legal walkout by TTC workers was in 1999, which lasted two days, traffic congestion increased but the worst-case scenarios feared by some city officials did not materialize.
The surprise strike came after a tumultuous two weeks of negotiations and meetings.
An eleventh-hour deal last Sunday came just in time to avert a strike that would have paralyzed the city last Monday morning.
But after a meeting held for union members to discuss the deal Wednesday night, reports of discontent among union executive board members and the transit agency's maintenance workers began to circulate.
Friday night's vote confirmed those fears.
Subway, streetcar, bus and Scarborough RT service is cancelled until further notice. Limited Wheel-Trans service, however, will remain in place for customers who must attend medical appointments for chemotherapy, dialysis and other life-threatening illnesses, the TTC said in a statement.
On the streets, TTC riders and drivers alike were caught by surprise.
In the minutes before midnight word of the strike spread among TTC riders unsure of how they'd get home.
“Fuck TTC, Fuck TTC!” chanted one group of disgruntled riders outside the Davisville subway station.
Minutes earlier, Al Evans, a bus driver, had pulled the 97A bus out of the depot and embarked north on Yonge Street.
“No one's told me anything about a strike,” he said, as he began to radio central command.
“I hope there isn't one because it's Friday night and people got to get home.”
Mr. Evans said he voted no to the agreement because he had friends who were maintenance workers, and it didn't look out for their interests.
“I didn't see anything wrong with the transit side of things, but I had to vote no because they're contracting out the maintenance work,” he said. “That's what a union is all about, you got to look out for your co-workers.”
John Conley, 32, was riding eastbound on the Bloor-Danforth line when he heard the news. He uses the subway every day to go to work at Yonge and Front as a bank manager. The only alternative he has to get there from his Avenue Road and St. Clair Avenue home is to walk.
“It's going to put the city into gridlock. That's unfortunate.”
Another reason he doesn't like the strike: “I might have to cancel a date on Saturday. That would suck. I don't get many of those.”
Roughly 1.4 million riders use the transit system every day.
GO Transit, which saw a big increase in ridership in the 1999 strike, has warned that it has no extra buses or trains to alleviate crowding in the event of a TTC walkout.
Meanwhile, taxi companies were bracing for a busier than normal Saturday morning as stranded passengers looked for ways home.
Royal Taxi shift supervisor Daniel Ghirmay said the company had “an emergency plan in place” and that extra drivers had been called in.
Workers at the Wilson subway storage yard said they were not allowed to comment on the situation. One did say, however, that he hoped a contract could be reached before Monday morning.
“I don't think anyone is happy about this, but I guess someone thinks this is a good idea,” said the worker.
As the midnight shift at the Hillcrest maintenance yard drew to a close, a small group of workers assembled to talk amongst themselves as TTC special constables arrived to discuss gate security.
One passer-by hurled her frustration toward those in the yard.
“Bunch of selfish bastards,” she hissed as she walked by.
Employees in their cars left the complex hastily, refusing to speak to a Globe and Mail reporter.
Toronto police Inspect Cory Bockus said all units had been made aware of the strike, and were ready for any spontaneous bouts of anger.
The deal, which critics of Mayor David Miller have argued was too generous, offered TTC workers improved health benefits and three years of 3-per-cent annual wage increases, that will make TTC drivers the best paid in the Greater Toronto Area.
But in a clause seized on by critics, the deal also offers bus drivers an additional raise in December of 2009 if their pay falls behind that of other Toronto-area drivers, something the union says it deserves because of the demands of driving a bus or a streetcar in the city.
With reports from Kate Hammer, James Bradshaw, Colin MacKenzie, Joy Yokoyama, Melissa Whetstone, and Evan Annett
-----
I sure hope for the sake of Torontonians that this is all quickly resolved. I still vividly remember Vancouver's summer-long bus strike back in 2001.
