Trust Fund Established For Fallen TTC Worker
Posted May 2, 2007 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
He was simply doing his job and it cost him his life.
Now those who worked with Tony Almeida are promising to do in life what he will never be able to do in death – care for his family.
The Amalgamated Transit Union has announced details of a trust fund designed to help the family of the 38-year-old TTC employee.
Almeida was killed two weeks ago when a piece of scaffolding came loose in a subway tunnel and rammed into the train he was driving.
Several of his colleagues were also hurt in the incident, which is still being investigated by the Ministry of Labour.
Almeida left behind a wife and two children, the youngest of whom kept asking if her daddy was ‘coming home’.
That heartbreaking question caused the workers to unite and establish a fund to keep the still grieving family going.
“Every penny contributed to this trust will go to Tony’s wife and two young children,” vows ATU Local 113 President Bob Kinnear in a statement.
“He worked very hard to support them and although we cannot step into his shoes as a husband and father, we can respond to this tragedy with all the help we can give.”
Kinnear notes Almeida wanted his kids to get a good education and part of the money will go to help them get the schooling he always dreamed they’d have.
Almeida’s funeral on Monday was attended by a host of dignitaries including Mayor David Miller, and the two men who were injured that day also got up from their sick beds to be part of the emotional farewell.
All TTC vehicles came to a stop in honour of the fallen worker at 11am, in a silent tribute to a man lost to his family and friends much too soon.
If you’d like to help, donations can be made to any Bank of Montreal branch in care of the Amalgamated Transit Union Tony Almeida Trust Fund or to:
ATU Local 113,
812 Wilson Ave.
Downsview,
M3K 1E5.
Donors will be recognized on the union’s website.
