The 2008 Toronto Transit Commission strike was a legal

strike action Strike action, also called labor strike, labour strike, or simply strike, is a work stoppage caused by the mass refusal of employees to Labor (economics), work. A strike usually takes place in response to grievance (labour), employee grievance ...

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and largest ...

(TTC) unionized employees that began on April 26, 2008, at 12:01 a.m. EDT. All bus, streetcar and subway service in

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most pop ...

, Ontario, Canada, was suspended, leaving thousands of people stranded across the city. Although the strike action was legal, the

Amalgamated Transit Union The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) is a labor organization in the United States and Canada that represents employees in the public transit industry. Established in 1892 as the Amalgamated Association of Street Railway Employees of America, the un ...

(ATU) Local 113 did not provide 48-hour notice of the service withdrawal as they had previously promised they would do. Instead, the ATU only provided 90 minutes' notice before the service withdrawal.

Bob Kinnear Bob Kinnear (b. 1970–1971) is a union leader in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. He was the leader of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 (ATU 113) from 2003 to 2017. Kinnear joined the TTC as a janitor in 1988 at age 18 and worked his way up as ...

, president of ATU Local 113, claimed that the lack of an advance notice was necessary to protect the TTC employees from "angry and irrational members of the public".

General synopsis

The strike occurred when the two unions, ATU Local 113 and

Canadian Union of Public Employees The Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE; french: Syndicat canadien de la fonction publique, links=no; french: SCFP, link=, label=none) is a Canadian trade union serving the public sector – although it has in recent years organized work ...

Local 2, voted 65% to reject the offer made on April 20, 2008. The result of the ratification vote was completed just after 10:00 p.m. on April 25 and Torontonians and TTC employees were given approximately 90 minutes' notice before the job action began. The rejected offer had offered TTC operators a 3% wage increase each year for three years. Some operators and maintenance staff were not pleased with the offer. There were also concerns over the injury compensation package and, according to some reports, contracting out work. TTC employees voiced their concerns over the week prior to the strike.

Back-to-work legislation

At approximately 11:45 p.m. on April 25, minutes before the strike began, Toronto mayor David Miller held a news conference stating that the strike action was "unacceptable and irresponsible" after the ATU failed to comply with the initial 48-hour strike notice and the subsequent rejection of the contract. The mayor made a special request to

Ontario premier The premier of Ontario (french: premier ministre de l'Ontario) is the head of government of Ontario. Under the Westminster system, the premier governs with the confidence of a majority the elected Legislative Assembly; as such, the premier typi ...

Dalton McGuinty Dalton James Patrick McGuinty Jr. (born July 19, 1955) is a former Canadian politician who served as the 24th premier of Ontario from 2003 to 2013. He was the first Liberal leader to win two majority governments since Mitchell Hepburn nea ...

asking him to seek back-to-work legislation, a special law that would block the TTC strike from continuing. By 12:30 p.m. on April 26, the provincial government had signed an

Order in Council An Order-in-Council is a type of legislation in many countries, especially the Commonwealth realms. In the United Kingdom this legislation is formally made in the name of the monarch by and with the advice and consent of the Privy Council (''Ki ...

allowing for a rare Sunday sitting of the

Ontario legislature The Legislative Assembly of Ontario (OLA, french: Assemblée législative de l'Ontario) is the legislative chamber of the Canadian province of Ontario. Its elected members are known as Members of Provincial Parliament (MPPs). Bills passed by ...

to consider a bill (Bill 66) to order the union and its members back to work. On April 27, 2008, Bill 66 was unanimously passed by the Ontario Legislature, a process which only took 30 minutes. The law was quickly given

royal assent Royal assent is the method by which a monarch formally approves an act of the legislature, either directly or through an official acting on the monarch's behalf. In some jurisdictions, royal assent is equivalent to promulgation, while in othe ...

by David Onley, the

Lieutenant Governor of Ontario The lieutenant governor of Ontario (, in French: ''Lieutenant-gouverneur'' (if male) or ''Lieutenante-gouverneure'' (if female) ''de l'Ontario'') is the viceregal representative in Ontario of the , who operates distinctly within the province bu ...

, and it came into force at 2 p.m. The TTC was given a few hours to ensure the system was ready to operate and to build up service. Most transit service resumed by that evening.

Offer

* Term: three years, expiring March 31, 2011 * Wages: April 1, 2008 – 3%; April 1, 2009 – 3%; April 1, 2010 – 3% * Vision Care: $300 every 2 years; plus $50 for exams * Dental Care: major restorative, including implants up to $2,500 * Orthodontic: up to $4,000 (50% TTC coverage) * Physio & Chiro: $1,000 max ($35 per visit) * Long-term Disability: $2,550 max, per month Source: TTC

References

External links

TTC website

TTC Watch
{{Notable labour disputes in Canada Toronto Transit Commission strike Labour disputes in Ontario Toronto Transit Commission Toronto Transit Commission strike Toronto Transit Commission strike Amalgamated Transit Union

General synopsis

Back-to-work legislation

Offer

See also

References

External links