TTC worker may go on strike over stalled contract talks

The union representing 12,000 TTC workers has requested a no-board report, moving the transit system closer to a strike over stalled contract talks.

 

In a news release Wednesday, the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 113 said despite the Ministry of Labour appointing a conciliator last month, an agreement could not be made on issues such as job security, wages and benefits.

 

As a result, the ATU requested a no-board report from the ministry. Once the report is issued, a legal strike can occur on the 17th day after it is released.

 

The union’s last contract expired at the end of March, and employees have been working without a contract since April 1.

“We have been at the bargaining table since early February,” said Marvin Alfred, ATU Local 113 president said in the news release. “We were hoping to reach a fair agreement with the employer. The request for a no-board report is our final step toward our union’s ability to legally strike.”

 

In a statement, the TTC said, “There has been no no-board report issued and we remain at the table.”

 

Just weeks ago, more than 650 electrical and trade workers for the TTC avoided a strike when their union, CUPE Local 2, struck a tentative agreement on April 22.

 

The last time the TTC’s ATU members went on strike was in 2008, when they walked off the job for 36 hours.

 

In 2011, the Ontario government under then-premier Dalton McGuinty enacted a law called the TTC Act, which banned unionized TTC workers from striking after former Toronto Mayor Rob Ford asked the province to deem the TTC an essential service. An Ontario Superior Court judge overturned that law last year, allowing TTC union members to legally go on strike.

 

 

 

 

This article was first reported by The Star