BY KATY LEROUGETEL
TORONTO - The 7,800 bus drivers, fare collectors, and
maintenance workers at the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC)
struck for two days April 19-20. Members of Amalgamated
Transit Union Local 113 rejected the employer's "final offer"
by 78 percent in a Labour Relations Board-imposed and
-supervised vote.
Union members have had a mere 1 percent wage increase in the last seven years. Bus drivers' top wages are Can$20.61 an hour (US$13.80) after three years. The TTC offered a 6 percent wage increase over three years; the union demanded 9 percent. Strikers explained that government interference in union deliberations led many to reject the offer. Despite media hype about traffic gridlock, picketers received many supportive waves and honks from passersby. Several pickets were talking about the actions by Saskatchewan nurses, who defied back-to-work legislation recently. Less than 12 hours into the transit strike, provincial premier Michael Harris announced that he would introduce legislation to force a return to work.
A tentative agreement between the transit commission and union officials was announced at 3:30 a.m. April 21, and workers were back on the job within hours. They have not yet voted on the proposed contract, which includes binding arbitration on any wage increase over 2 percent a year.