The embattled president of the TTC’s largest union has resigned, following a dramatic struggle over the group’s affiliation with its U.S.-based parent organization.

In an emailed statement Friday afternoon, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 announced that Bob Kinnear, who had led the organization since 2003, had stepped aside “effective immediately.”

“With this distraction behind us, we’re now focused on what matters most — representing Toronto’s hardworking transit workers,” Kevin Morton, secretary-treasurer of the local, said in the statement. “More united than ever, we’re moving forward to fight the TTC’s plans for alcohol and drug testing and to prepare for next year’s important collective bargaining.”

Kinnear did not immediately return a request for comment.

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A fiery and often controversial figure, Kinnear was known for his confrontational style, which often rankled TTC officials when he showed up to make deputations at the agency’s board meetings.

He joined the TTC in 1988 as a maintenance worker and became a transit driver before becoming union president 14 years ago.

Kinnear presided over two strikes during his tenure. In 2006, TTC workers abruptly walked off the job in a one-day wildcat strike that left stranded commuters fuming. Two years later, TTC workers went on strike again after the membership declined to ratify an agreement the TTC and union executive had reached on a new contract.

Kinnear and the union’s clout has been somewhat diminished since 2011. That’s when the province declared the TTC an essential service and stripped the union of the power to strike legally, following a successful campaign led by then-mayor Rob Ford.

Kinnear’s resignation follows a tumultuous six weeks at Local 113, which represents more than 10,000 workers at the transit agency. In the early hours of Feb. 3, representatives from the local’s U.S.-based parent union, Amalgamated Transit Union International, abruptly locked out Kinnear and the rest of Local 113’s executives from their headquarters on Wilson Ave., removed Kinnear from his post and placed the local under a trusteeship.

ATU International, which is headquartered in Maryland, claimed that Kinnear was attempting to disaffiliate from the U.S. organization without the consent of the local’s membership or executive.

Two days earlier, Kinnear had written to the Canadian Labour Congress to request a process that could have led to the membership taking a vote on whether to leave the union. The local said Friday that the CLC process had been stopped.

On Feb. 7, Kinnear appeared at a press conference with Jerry Dias, president of Unifor, which is Canada’s largest private sector union. Dias and Kinnear argued that ATU International had ignored the interests of the Canadian local and that the membership had the right to vote on whether to leave the parent union and join another labour group.

ATU International officials accused Kinnear of “plotting in secret” to disaffiliate and deliver Local 113’s membership to Unifor.

An Ontario Superior Court judge reinstated Kinnear on Feb. 21, finding that ATU International had “deprive(d) the membership of their duly elected leader.” The judge also placed an injunction against the trusteeship.

The decision was vindication for Kinnear but unrest continued to roil the local, with some members picketing outside the union’s headquarters and calling for him to step down.

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A spokesperson for the local said that the injunction remained in place but that he expected it to be rescinded soon. He said there was no date set to elect a new president.

TTC spokesperson Brad Ross issued a statement Friday afternoon in which he said the transit agency “wishes Mr. Kinnear well in his future endeavours.”

He added that “internal union matters” wouldn’t affect transit service.