TTC Strike One Step Closer After Giambrone Refuses Kinnear’s Request
Posted April 10, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 president Bob Kinnear made it clear Thursday that the inability to come to terms with TTC management in the near future could only spell one thing – a strike. Kinnear said work-to-rule wasn’t an option.
“We’ve had a lot of discussions with our negotiating committee and our membership and we have ruled (work-to-rule) out,” he said. “If there is any job action taken it will be a complete withdrawal of services.”
The tough talking union boss broke the media blackout on the long running but slow moving transit talks earlier in the day and made it clear the main stumbling blocks aren’t just some outstanding issues, but a person. He accuses TTC General Manager Gary Webster of playing hardball in the negotiations and feels he can no longer deal with him.
“We do not believe we will get an agreement as long as Gary Webster is making the decisions.”
“We can understand that (Webster) wants to prove what a tough negotiator he is now that he’s Chief General Manager, but there’s a difference between being tough and just plain unreasonable,” Kinnear chides. “We are asking TTC Chair Adam Giambrone to step in and take over the negotiations over the next few days.”
Apparently the union is prepared to sit down at the table for the next few days, but only with Giambrone at the helm.
“We know we can’t dictate who sits on the other side of the table. We’re just making a constructive suggestion,” Kinnear said.
Giambrone quickly turned down the offer, saying he has full faith in the TTC’s negotiating team.
But with two heads of both sides at a stubborn gridlock, things don’t look good for the city’s 1.5 million riders.
Webster’s presence is an irritant for the union, but it’s not their only issue.
Transit management’s insistence that the ATU accept contract concessions in two areas is responsible for the stalled talks, Kinnear said, adding he believes the commission is trying to force his members into a strike position.
“We are extremely frustrated at the pace of negotiations and we think management’s demands for further major concessions are meant to try and push us into a strike,” he contended.
One of the main issues would see benefit improvements paid for by concessions while a second gripe has all future employees at a certain wage group given 25 percent less than existing employees.
“Let me be clear that this alone is a strike issue,” Kinnear explained. “We have always wanted a negotiated settlement without a work stoppage, but we will not sell out the next generation of workers.
“I indicated very clearly that if the TTC continues to maintain their position of a 25 percent reduction for new employees in our maintenance department, that is a deal breaker.”
The union boss cited several statistics showing TTC drivers are paid less than their suburban counterparts and don’t receive the same standard of benefits as city employees.
He also noted that Webster’s salary has increased just over 65 percent in seven years to $273,000, which is more than three times the rate of increase of transit operators over the same period. “But Mr. Webster is saying that, to get a deal, we, the front-line workers, have to give back something of what we already have,” Kinnear said.
Webster denied that the 25 percent cut was even an issue.
“This 25 percent issue is not a concern for the TTC, it is not on the table, we are not asking for that.”
In his announcement, the local president didn’t mention the original sticking point that put talks in trouble earlier, which was the union’s demand for 100 percent compensation for workers who are injured on the job. Currently those workers receive 75 percent of their pay while absent.
The transit announcement ended with a call to the federal and provincial governments for increased and sustained transit funding. The TTC is the least subsidized urban transit system in North America.
“There is an urgent need for significant and ongoing operational funding support. A shining new bus is worthless unless you can operate and maintain it,” Kinnear noted.
The ATU and two other locals have been in a legal strike position since April 1st.
See Kinnear’s unedited press conference In The Raw here.
