Canadian Urbanism Uncovered
Read more articles by Adam Chaleff-Freudenthaler
UPDATE at 8:05pm: TTC service is in the process of resuming. According to the Toronto Star, TTC Chairman Adam Giambrone says that service will gradually come back on line and during that process wait times will be longer than normal.
By Monday morning service will be completely restored.
Earlier in the day, Spacing reported that Chairman Giambrone had predicted service would be resumed by 9PM.
Photograph by bgilliard
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20 comments
Don’t forget to welcome back our ttc ‘workers’ with a healthy round of boo’s! BOOOOOOOO!!!!! May they all lose their jobs
above comments are boring. be constructive or pipe down . you are selfish, making us read your dumb junk.
I’m glad to see we’re all banding together during hard times. :-p
On the other hand, it’s nice to beat up on people, regardless of whether or not they deserve it. It’s much easier than discussing whether or not they deserve it.
I haven’t thought much of Adam Giambrone’s ability to deal with the press and manage his own position in the past, but both he and the Mayor seem to have made all the right moves during this process. Backing their man (Gary Webster) when it mattered and backing the people when it mattered more.
I always believed we were going to see some sort of walk out. That’s much less of a validation of my own intelligence (it’s so easy to be smart online), rather it’s a validation of my low opinion of Bob Kinnear. And I’m more content to be right about him and that his lack of savvy would eventually get him booted from the top union post.
The only question left is whether or not TTC employees will respect the back to work order. They didn’t heed union leadership when asked to ratify the agreement, will they now listen when told to end the job action.
Matthew, Adam and the other writers on this blog have been spot on pointing out that this is one bizarre strike. No pickets, no protests, no…nothing. Does that mean the strike will end as abruptly as it began, or is there one more weird chapter to be written in the 2008 TTC Strike?
Cartright: Even the ones who voted against the strike?
Striking without giving notice and leaving people stranded is not going to foster goodwill among riders.
I’m with Cartright. 65% of drivers will receive my scorn.
The TTC strike has had little effect on the number of patients coming into the emergency ward I work in. Only 10 fewer patients than last weekend.
Back in 2006, I said during the wildcat TTC strike “it doesn’t get any dumber than this”. I stand corrected.
How soon before the calls for the TTC to be an essential service morph into a more insistent call that some or all of the system be taken over by the province? If the ATU, with the benefit of the most union-friendly mayor and TTC chairman it could possibly hope for, can throw a wildcat strike in 2006 and pull this nonsense, what will happen when if council swings to the right?
> On the other hand, it’s nice to beat up on people, regardless of whether
I read that as “beat up people”
I choose to exercise some restraint, provided I get a refund on my metropass like the last time.
some of the coverage in the Star had GIambrone making the point that the drivers are only a part of the TTC workforce, and not necessarily those who were unhappy – so that public face doesn’t merit total hostility.
Personally I think that all riders should get a FREE ride period of not less then 48 hours, and this should be paid for by the ATU, for reneging on their 48 hour promise. By the same Token, Metropass holders who purchase a May Metropass should be given a credit of 3,5 days (the length of the strike, plus the free 48 hours) the bill for this should also be given to the ATU.
Okay, the contract didn’t pass, so go back to the table, and see what you can work out, if you can’t work something out, say in a week or two, then you call a strike.
There really is no big hurry on these things, there are companies where contracts expired in December, and still are not resolved, and strikes have not been called. When a contract is signed, if there are pay increases, then employees get it retroactive to the end of the last contract. I would rather get an extra $200 for retroactive pay then lose $200 pay over a strike.
I’m glad that back to work legislation was passed regarding this strike. The short notice for a strike by the Union on Friday night was extremely insensitive to the public and also I’m sure to the TTC staff who were still on duty at the time and likely had to put up with outraged patrons. However, under the current collective bargaining system in place, the Union was in a legal strike position. Was it stupid for the majority of union members to reject this deal? Maybe, maybe not (I don’t know the details of the offer) — but in any case, union members are not obligated to accept a deal made on their behalf without a ratification vote.
Hopefully this weekend’s fiasco will finally move City Council to push for an essential service designation, something they should have done long ago. All through this round of bargaining, the Mayor has been talking about the power and advantage of negotiated settlements, and ignoring the question of whether TTC was an essential service. And yet, as soon as a strike happens, he’s asking the province for back to work legislation (which I think he was right to do). Seems to me the Mayor is once again talking out of both sides of his mouth. If back to work legislation needs to be brought in after one day of striking, then the right to strike for these workers is illusory. They don’t have the right to strike… and they shouldn’t have the right to strike. But then they also need to be labelled as “essential”. You can’t have it both ways.
Here’s a video that tries to make sense of the strike for people who aren’t from here:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IXpibN7Hug
I’m amazed at the hate directed at the TTC for the strike. Yes, they went on strike for a day and a half, screwing large numbers of people out of a ride. I was one of those people.
But guess what? They did it on a weekend, after work had ended, and they did it knowing they’d be legislated back to work by Monday.
They could not have staged a strike at a more convenient time for the city of Toronto.
For this, at least, I’m grateful.
What I am disappointed about is the lack of available information on the concerns and interests of Local 113. Their website is a mess, and they haven’t been publishing any press releases concerning their interests. I, and I’m sure the rest of Toronto does too, want to know what the important issues are to the Union, but the only information publicly available is from the TTC (their opposing party), and the media (LOLOL WTF $30 /HOUR!).
The ATU Local 113 needs to learn a thing or two about publicity. If they want Toronto’s support, then need to ask for it.
Kinnear! Talk to the public!
Don’t blame me…I voted for Kodos.
“They did it on a weekend, after work had ended”
For you, maybe. Many Torontonians work on weekends and at night and rely on the TTC to get there.
Some people, like able-bodied males, may feel the strike came at a convenient time, but women having to walk home in the middle of the night through desolate suburbs and industrial areas certainly had their safety compromised. I didn’t appreciate having to run from a slow moving car that followed me for a block on Dundas W. ATU113’s safety talking point is contemptible.
Don’t complain anymore,I’m sure that by tomorrow the union will get their wish and get essential service status by city council.The union will then get higher pay that comes with the designation.TTC workers will finally get the maximum for the minimum!And no more need to strike!congratulations to everyone for a show well done,the public was fooled in the end and will pay the bill.
PS later this year the Fares go up to past $3.00 or remain at the $3.00 level so start saving now!
The three ironclad guarantees of public transit:
No matter what happens, transit workers will get more for doing less.
No matter what happens, transit management will keep their cushy jobs.
No matter what happens, the public will get screwed.