Striking Union Station workers to return to work as labour dispute ends

Electrical rail workers at Toronto’s Union Station will resume their duties at the busy transit hub tonight after walking off the job last month.

Ninety-five workers with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers went on strike on April 20 and started on-and-off demonstrations in the days that followed, some of which affected bus service at Union Station.

A source confirmed with CityNews early on Tuesday that a deal had been reached.

A tweet from the IBEW chapter representing Union Station workers announced the end of the strike this morning. It says the workers will be back on the job tonight.

The workers are members of the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers (IBEW) union and are mainly responsible for signals, communication maintenance, and train control at the Union Station rail corridor.

IBEW tells CityNews the new agreement is a five-year deal that is backdated to Jan. 1, 2020, with wages and benefits to be arbitrated and “work rules agreed to at signing.”

The striking workers have been without a contract since December 2019. TTR says wages were a contentious point during negotiations. The union had previously accused the company of failing to negotiate seriously.

Metrolinx recently filed an injunction against the union to prevent picketers from creating more service disruptions.

“As a result of the customer service impacts the past two weeks, Metrolinx has filed an injunction order against the IBEW Union and its members to prevent them from continuing to interrupt GO bus service for our customers,” reads a statement from Metrolinx.

A tentative agreement was also reached in September between the union and their employer, but the deal was not ratified.

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