TTC asks labour relations board to declare illegal strike action over low employee compliance with vaccine policy

A woman wears a mask while riding the Bloor line subway in Toronto on Saturday, March 14, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Carlos Osorio

TORONTO -

The Toronto Transit Commission has filed an urgent application with the Ontario Labour Relations Board accusing the union representing Toronto transit workers of carrying out illegal strike action by encouraging workers to refuse to disclose their COVID-19 vaccination status.

In the 28-page application, obtained by CP24 Tuesday night, the TTC asks the Ontario Labour Relations Board to declare the actions of ATU Local 113 workers to constitute an illegal strike.

“The TTC remains committed to the health and safety of our employees and customers.  Since the beginning of the pandemic, we have taken extraordinary steps to keep everyone safe and comfortable while working at and riding on the TTC. Our mandatory vaccination policy is part of this commitment,” TTC CEO Rick Leary said in a statement late Tuesday.

“Regrettably, ATU Local 113 executives have engaged in a campaign that is creating obstacles to our objectives and is hindering the best public health advice regarding vaccinations. This is unfortunate for the people they represent as some of these individuals are now in a position where they may be unable to work.”

Leary said he believes “the vast majority” of the TTC’s workers, both unionized and non-unionized, are vaccinated and said the commission is seeing “very few” new cases among employees on a daily basis.

“All we are asking now is for employees to confirm their vaccination status by Sept. 30. Rest assured, the protection of their privacy is top of mind,” Leary said.

The TTC said back on Aug. 19 that it would require all of its employees to provide proof of their vaccination status and that they would have until Oct. 30 to be fully vaccinated, consistent with other city employees.

The TTC released its policy on Sept. 7 and gave employees until Sept. 20 to disclose their status, with all employees required to have at least one dose by Sept. 30, except for those with valid health and Human Rights Code exemptions.

The vaccination policy states that employees “are expected to comply with this policy as a condition of employment.”

But on Sept. 21, the TTC said that less than 50 per cent of active TTC employees had disclosed their COVID-19 vaccine status. Among those who had disclosed, 93 per cent were fully vaccinated, while another seven per cent had received at least one dose.

In a statement released Tuesday, ATU Canada President John Di Nino slammed Leary, saying he had caused “unrest” by implementing “confusing mandatory vaccination policies.”

Di Nino said the union supports “public health measures to increase vaccination rates” but that the policies “must be delivered in consultation and partnership with ATU representing the workers themselves.”

“Our original statement on mandatory vaccination policies said that heavy-handed policies would be self-defeating and this is exactly what has transpired at the TTC.”

He cited fear of reprisal, unpaid administrative leaves or loss of employment.

However on the local’s website, the union explicitly asks employees not to disclose their status.

“Whether vaccinated or not, we are asking our members to continue refusing to disclose any private medical information to the TTC,” a Sept. 24 notice on the website reads. “ATU Local 113 opposes this policy, and we encourage you stand in solidarity with your union sisters and brothers as we fight to defend your right to make your own personal health decisions and protect your private medical information.”

In its submission to the Labour Relations Board, the TTC said that ATU Local 113 urged its members not to disclose their vaccination status the same day the policy was released on Sept. 7.

“The disclosure rate for employees represented by ATU, and Operators specifically, was abysmally low,” the TTC said in its submission. “These disclosure rates clearly demonstrate concerted effort amongst ATU members, as a result of the ATU communications, not to disclose their vaccination status to the TTC in violation of its Policy.”

The submission says the policy is necessary in order to instill public confidence in the TTC and claims that the union is interfering in the transit system’s operations by advising employees to flout the policy.

“By directing its members not to disclose their vaccination status, the ATU has unlawfully interfered in the management of the TTC’s operations through this illegal job action and unlawfully counselled its members to, in concert, violate the Policy,” the submission claims.

The TTC has extended its disclosure deadline to Sept. 30.

In the meantime, the TTC submission asks the board to order the union to cease and desist counselling employees not to comply with the TTC’s vaccination policy and to consider the submission “on an expedited basis.”