Glimmer of hope in talks as TTC on the brink of transit strike

There is a glimmer of hope that a deal can be made to avoid a TTC transit workers strike.

Both sides continue to negotiate with union officials says “some progress has been made” without providing any further details. That comment came just a few hours after the union issued a statement confirming no progress had been achieved at the bargaining table and that they would be moving forward with strike action as of 12:01 a.m. Friday.

For its part, TTC officials said in a social media post Thursday night that they believe a deal that’s fair and affordable is within reach and that job action can be avoided.

Wages, benefits, and a number of job security issues are top sticking points for the union. They want protections against contracting jobs out to third parties and from cross-boundary service getting handed over to other Greater Toronto Area transit operators.

Neither side has offered specifics on any proposed negotiating terms.

If workers strike, a deal between the union and TTC would keep the system running until subway service ends, between 2 a.m. and 3 a.m. Wheel-Trans, the paratransit service for people with disabilities, would also continue uninterrupted.

“We’re not trying to harshly remove service so that people are stranded or abandoned,” ATU Local 113 president Marvin Alfred said at a news conference earlier Thursday.

“But we are doing our best to signal if you don’t have to be in the system at midnight, why would you enter the system?”

A strike could bring Canada’s most populous city to a grinding halt. It would upend regular travel plans for tens of thousands of commuters who depend on its subways, streetcars and buses while choking the city’s already congested roadways.

And unlike some Toronto transit strikes of the past, speedy back-to-work legislation from the province may not be a foregone conclusion. Ontario would not introduce a bill to end the strike unless Toronto requests it since the province is not directly involved in negotiations, a senior government source said, and any bill would likely not be introduced for weeks.

The last TTC strike in 2008 ended after less than two days when the provincial government held a special weekend sitting to legislate the union members back to work. Several other ATU Local 113 job actions, including a record 23-day strike in 1970 and a 45-day work-to-rule campaign in 1989, have ended with legislation.

Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report