[PRCo] TTC

[Holland Electric Rwy. Op. H.E.R.O. -- Import SPTC 1.48 Models // James B. Holland]

http://www.cbc.ca/toronto/story/ttc-walkout.html
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http://www.cbc.ca/news/photogalleries/flash/ttcstrike.html?gallery=ttcstrike
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Toronto's transit union told its members to return to work Monday 
afternoon after a labour dispute shut down the city's subways, 
streetcars and buses for most of the day.


Officials with the city's Amalgamated Transit Union made the request 
just before 3 p.m. EDT.

About 800 maintenance workers walked off the job between 4 a.m. and 5 
a.m. EDT, protesting proposed changes in work schedules. Then other 
transit workers refused to cross their picket lines, leaving an 
estimated 800,000 commuters scrambling to find alternative 
transportation. "Picket lines are coming down in most locations," 
Toronto Mayor David Miller told a news conference at city hall.

'Utterly wrong' "This whole action was utterly wrong," Miller said. "I 
never believed that they would break the law." The union had been told 
in two rulings from the Ontario Labour Relations Board on Monday that 
its walkout was illegal.


"We are law-abiding citizens, we will comply with the law," Bob Kinnear, 
president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, told reporters. 
"Our members want to continue to move the people of Toronto."

Evening service to resume slowly The TTC said service for the evening 
commute would resume, but slowly, first with buses and then with 
subways. Not all routes would start rolling at the same time, the 
transit commission said. "I can't be clear on when service will resume," 
Miller said. "Please be patient." With the dispute over, Miller 
suggested the dispute had damaged people's trust in the transit workers. 
"You've got to respect your obligation to show up for work and they 
breached that today."

Different versions Earlier Monday, the TTC had also called the shutdown 
"an illegal job action," while the union insisted that the TTC locked 
its facilities before morning-shift workers arrived. Management wanted 
about 100 janitors and subway-track workers who now work days to switch 
permanently to the night shift, saying it is easier to clean stations 
and maintain tracks when the TTC is not in service. The last Toronto 
Transit Commission strike, in 1999, was a legal walkout. It ended after 
two days as the provincial government prepared to legislate the drivers 
back to work. Toronto's temperature hit 33 C, with high humidity and 
smog adding to the aggravation of thousands of people who were forced to 
bike or walk to work. Other transit systems in the Greater Toronto Area 
remained working on Monday, including GO Transit trains and buses 
running through the downtown core. The TTC's Wheel Transit service for 
handicapped passengers also continued to offer limited service.