The TTC is going to be on strike - April 1st is their anticipated strike date
I was reading some more information about the TTC strike looming around. It seems that members of the Amalgamated Transit Union local 113 will be in a “legal” strike position starting Monday at midnight. The union has overwhelmingly rejected a new offer by the commission. Security is among the top concern for many TTC employees faced everyday. Many TTC employees were either verbally or physically assaulted and the majority of TTC employees suffer a severe reduction in their pay which had contributed to their injuries on their duty.
Adam Giambrone, the official chair of the TTC stated that the members and the union first voted on the first offer, but it got turned down. “We don’t have any information as to whether or not negotiations will continue. We’re still hoping for a negotiated settlement, and we’re working very hard to achieve it,” Adam Giambrone stated in an interview. At this moment, negotiations are silent.
However, Bob Kinnear union president of the ATU Local 113 stated that: “We have called off negotiations until the TTC can address this fundamental issue…It is very unlikely that there will be an offer that will be accepted by our negotiating committee that does not address this issue,”
Mr. Kinnear also stated about the many risks that the TTC workers faced almost everyday.
“People are going to work and being punched and beaten up because of the increased fares…we don’t believe that there should be any reduction in wages for someone who is attacked at work,”
“If they are receiving WSIB benefits, it’s a reduction of 15 per cent, and if they’re receiving short-term disability, it’s a reduction of 25 per cent. We don’t believe that is justifiable considering that TTC management has no loss of income despite why they’re off from work,”
The last time that the TTC was on an “official” strike was back in 1999. That strike lasted two days. The Wildcat strike that took place in May of 2006 however lasted for a few hours which crippled many to find alternative ways. The transit striked reminded me of when Durham Region Transit went on strike too. It crippled every community in the Durham Region except ones in Whitby and in the Northern areas. Those areas were contracted out. Whitby buses however, cannot go into Oshawa as a result. The strike last for at least two to three weeks. As a college student, I have to face many challenges and this is a “prime” example.
Anyways, I hope that the union and their members will resolve their problems anytime soon. Until that is ongoing, people who live and/or work in Toronto, my take home message: plan alternative options accordingly.
References:
http://www.680news.com/news/local/article.jsp?content=20080325_065932_2284
http://www.cbc.ca/canada/toronto/story/2008/03/25/ttc-negotiations.html
http://network.nationalpost.com/np/blogs/toronto/archive/2008/03/25/162533.aspx
http://www.thestar.com/News/GTA/article/350423
[...] Tonekham @ 9:38 pm It seems that there’s going to be another strike to coincide with the main TTC strike done by the workers who represent the high number of TTC drivers, subway operators and streetcar [...]