

Chris Fox and Joshua Freeman, CP24.com





The TTC says it is moving to quash a concerted effort by some of its employees to disrupt service over organizational changes they’re not happy with.

“Recent postings on social media have come to the TTC’s attention which, in the TTC’s view, shows plans that a clear, concerted effort is being made to illegally disrupt TTC service,” the organization said in a letter to employees Friday.

The letter apparently refers to reports of grassroots action being taken by some upset TTC employees, who refused overtime during Nuit Blanche this past weekend.

The Toronto Star reported earlier this week that more than 600 subway operators were asked to work overtime during the all-night arts festival and only nine volunteered, forcing TTC supervisors to fill the positions of front-line employees.

The letter also said that some TTC employees who have signed up for overtime this weekend have faced bullying and intimidation.

“Reporting to work on time and fit for duty is an obligation we all have. There’s a moral obligation, too, about coming to work on days and times scheduled,” the letter says.

It added that “an organized or concerted effort to disrupt the TTC by not coming to work, or by way of an illegal work stoppage, slow down or strike” constitutes a violation of the laws and agreements governing the TTC’s relationship with its employees.

The commission has now filed an application with the Ontario Labour Relations Board to have last weekend’s refusal to sign up for the Nuit Blanche shifts declared “an illegal strike supported by the union.”

The TTC is also seeking an order prohibiting the transit union from supporting or encouraging any illegal strike action.

The change that appears to have sparked the protest action is a switch to a single-operator model on some subway trains.

Some employees not happy about single-operator model

Starting this Sunday, the TTC will eliminate the second operator on trains on Line 4. It’s the first step in shifting to a single-operator model across the subway system, but the move has stirred up some controversy.

The union, which represents the TTC’s front-line workers, has raised concerns about the potential impact that the change will have on customer safety.

Earlier this week, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 President Bob Kinnear told the Toronto Star that there will be an escalation of “members communicating their dissatisfaction to the TTC” unless the transit agency becomes more “receptive” to the union’s concerns.

Kinnear, however, did not provide specific details on actions that may be taken.

The TTC has previously said that shifting to a one-operator model on subway trains could save it $18 million a year across the system.

Under the model, a number of cameras provide the driver with a full view of the platform as he or she departs the station, negating the need for another worker to visually observe the platform.

“This is done the world over,” TTC spokesperson Brad Ross said on Friday. “It is done in London, it is done in Paris, it is done in Hong Kong, Berlin and Montreal and in fact on the SRT in Scarborough.”

The TTC maintains that the single-operator system is safe, having been approved by the Ministry of Labour and the American Public Transit Association.

The application to the labour board marks an about-face from earlier Friday when the TTC said it was not concerned about the potential for job action over its decision to switch to a single-operator model on some subway trains.

Earlier in the day, Ross said that the TTC was “monitoring the situation” but was not concerned about the potential for illegal job action.

“We have a collective bargaining agreement and we expect the union to honour it and to council their members and our employees to honour it,” he said. “If they have issues with one-person train operation and they want to make those issues known to us, they should grieve it and in fact they have grieved it. That is the place where you deal with these matters.”

The application to the board appears to have bene made after social media posts were discovered indicating more of a coordinated effort.