More TTC service disruptions loom as workers inch closer to strike

The union representing 12,000 TTC workers is inching closer to a strike at a time when the city’s transit system has been riddled with disruptions.

ATU Local 113, which represents the workers who operate and maintain the TTC, said in a news release Tuesday that it has been granted a “No Board Report” from Ontario’s Ministry of Labour. It requested the report last Wednesday.

The report is the union’s final step before it can be in a legal strike position. No strike date has been set, but the union said it will now be able to legally strike as of June 7.

“This is the next legal step with respect to exercising our right to withdraw services,” said Marvin Alfred, President of ATU Local 113.

“We have already started mobilizing our members to prepare for this, should we need to take strike action in June.”

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Once a “no board report” is issued, the union will have 17 days to notify the employer of its intent to withdraw services.

Last month, ATU Local 113 members approved a strike mandate, putting the union in a position to walk off the job for the first time in 16 years.

Between 2011 and 2023, unionized TTC employees were deemed an essential service by provincial law and were not allowed to strike.

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However, that was overturned in 2023 by an Ontario Superior Court of Justice ruling that restored TTC employees’ right to strike.

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The union has been without a deal since April 1 after its current agreement expired the day prior.

ATU Local 113 has said its members are “clearly angry and upset” over how they’re treated on the job, and want to “protect our future,” citing the need for job security.

In a statement last month, TTC CEO Rick Leary said both sides have been “working hard” since February to reach a deal.

“The bargaining teams from ATU and the TTC remain at the table where they continue to negotiate a new collective agreement to replace the one that expired on March 31, 2024,” he said.

“The TTC values the important and challenging work that all our employees do every day to deliver safe and reliable service — the employees in ATU Local 113 are an integral part of our operations.”

The workers represented by ATU Local 113 include bus, streetcar, wheel-trans and subway operators, collectors, cleaning staff and maintenance workers. Leary said any job action from the union would “almost certainly lead to service disruptions.”

In that same statement, Leary said a strike by ATU Local 113 would “almost certainly lead to service disruptions.

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Any disruption would follow several that have occurred on the TTC this spring, including on Monday between St. George and Broadview stations.

Spilled hydraulic fluid on the tracks resulted in a roughly 12-hour shutdown of subway service; shuttle buses ran in its absence.

On April 26, a fire at track level between Kipling and Jane stations resulted in a shutdown that lasted several days.

The TTC avoided one disruption this spring when it reached a deal with the union representing 650 trades and electrical workers.