One TTC service will still operate as usual during looming strike
Toronto is preparing for a TTC strike that will grind commutes around the city to a halt, with 11,500 drivers, station workers, collectors, maintenance staff and others ready to walk off the job starting Friday.
Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 113 kicked off a countdown to the work action on Tuesday, marking three days until what will be the first strike for the commission since 2008, since the TTC was deemed an essential service in the province for many years in between.
Good luck riders
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The union has outlined its main demands in a series of hard-hitting videos: better job security, benefits and mental health support, wages that match inflation and cross-boundary protection.
And, while employees are threatening a full withdrawal of services, there is one that will continue operating if and when the strike commences after the 12:01 am deadline on June 7: Wheel-Trans.
“We recognize the importance of the Wheel-Trans service to riders who are dependent on this important transportation service to get to and from their needs, including medical care, and therefore as an act of good faith, our members will continue to operate full Wheel-Trans services in the event of a strike/lockout,” the union notified riders in a release yesterday.
It also wrote that the strike appears “necessary” at this point, as members are “not seeing sufficient progress at the bargaining table.”
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“We had hoped the TTC would work with Local 113 to arrive at a collective agreement that acknowledged the hard work of our members. It’s unfortunate that we have to move forward with this course of action, but the TTC has left us with no other choice,” it states.
Seeing as the last strike lasted less than two days due to how integral transit is to people in the city, we will have to see how long this walkout lasts, and whether the province enacts back-to-work legislation or, ideally, the TTC and the union agree on a deal ASAP.
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