Toronto transit workers' union takes 'final step' towards possible job action

A Toronto Transit Commission sign is shown at a downtown Toronto subway stop Tuesday, Jan. 24, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Graeme Roy

The union representing thousands of TTC workers is requesting the Ministry of Labour issue a no-board report, saying its the "final" step towards a possible work stoppage for the first time in more than a decade.

Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 113, which represents 12,000 transit workers who operate and maintain the TTC, announced its request Wednesday evening.

“We have been at the bargaining table since early February,” Marvin Alfred, president of ATU Local 113, said in a statement.

“We were hoping to reach a fair agreement with the employer. The request for a no-board report is our final step towards our union’s ability to legally strike.”

Last month, a conciliator was appointed after contract talks stalled. Since then, the union, which has been without a contract since April 1, said the TTC has not addressed key issues like job security, wages and benefits.

Once the no-board is granted, it starts a 17-day countdown to the union being in a legal job action.

More than two weeks ago, ATU Local 113 members voted overwhelmingly in support of a strike mandate.

If no agreement is reached, it will be the first time in 13 years that unionized TTC workers can legally strike after a court ruling last year struck down Ontario’s designation of the TTC as an essential service.

The last time ATU Local 113 went on strike was in 2008.

"There has been no no-board issued at this time. We remain in bargaining," a TTC spokesperson said in an email.

With files from CP24’s Codi Wilson