Mayor Responds To Back-To-Work Law While Union Boss Remains Silent
Posted April 27, 2008 12:00 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Toronto’s mayor held a press conference Sunday afternoon to talk about the province’s decision to legislate TTC employees back to work, while the man atop the union at the centre of all the controversy remained nowhere to be found.
So David Miller spoke, and admitted the decision was one he had asked Premier Dalton McGuinty to make, and he was pleased with the results and his constituents.
“I’d like to acknowledge the efforts of Torontonians,” he said. “This unexpected strike went by virtually without incident because of the calm of Torontonians in handling the news.”
And as for the union? “They’ve told me the same thing they’ve told you – nothing,’ Miller said, still not sure what part of the contract is under contention, and noted, “It’s not appropriate to speculate.”
The person perhaps best able to help in such speculation – Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 President Bob Kinnear – remained off the grid, even as those he represents were getting back on it. Numerous calls to Kinnear and associates have gone unanswered, and the union office was locked on Sunday afternoon.
Kinnear endorsed a deal he helped broker that many thought spelled the end of any threat of a strike, almost a week before workers surprisingly walked off the job at 12:01 Saturday morning. Though no official reason for the 64 per cent against vote that rejected the contract has been given, many have speculated that was a solidarity stand by maintenance workers who felt slighted by Kinnear in a contract they claim favoured drivers and operators.
As for the new deal, Miller did say that “everything’s on the table now,” and hinted that a mediator may not use the rejected agreement as a template.
Miller added that both TTC brass and the union would be starting anew; adding, “I’m sure management will be raising issues that they feel need improving.”
And as riders prepare to board the Red Rocket, the Mayor echoed McGuinty’s call for courteous behaviour and respect for TTC drivers and ticket takers.
