The head of a union that represents TTC workers says he showed up at his office this morning to find out he had been removed from his position.
Bob Kinnear says he found out at around 6 a.m. Friday that the U.S.-based Amalgamated Transit Union had “trusteed” Local 113, which represents TTC workers.
The abrupt move also saw the removal of 17 other leadership positions within the union.
Kinnear says the American-based leadership of ATU Local 113 came to his office overnight and took over, locking out officials.
He said the dismissal comes on the heels of an application filed by the ATU Local 113 with the Canadian Labour Congress to break off from the organization if the members vote to do so.
“It’s a democratic process that allows the 11,000 members who operate the Toronto Transit Commission a democratic opportunity to vote and to make a determination on how they want to move forward for themselves,” he told CP24 via the phone Friday morning. “This American-based union does not want to permit our Canadian members to have their democratic right.”
Kinnear said though he’s not “completely surprised,” he’s certainly “disappointed.”
“The American union has been heavy handed for a number of years now,” he said.
Meanwhile, the ATU says it was Kinnear who made a “unilateral attempt” to remove the Local 113 from its “120-year-old union.”
“Kinnear’s secretive effort to split Local 113 away from its fellow ATU Canada Locals was done without the members’ knowledge or consent or that of their executive,” a statement by the ATU provided to CTV News Toronto said.
“Because his actions represent a clear violation of the union’s constitution and general laws, the international union has placed the local in a temporary trusteeship.”
The union said that the trusteeship has been implemented to “restore democratic procedures and assure continuous representation of the 10,000 members,” which are predominantly TTC employees.
“The trustee will be communicating directly with the members and the public in the coming hours and days,” the statement continued. “We are committed to continuing the 120 year long tradition of serving ATU Local 113 members in Ontario with the same high standards our union has always followed.”
The union, which is based in Maryland and represents 200,000 members in both Canada and the United States, will be led by the executive vice president, Manny Sforza, until further notice.
Back in October, Kinnear and Sforza both ran for the VP position at ATU and Sforza finished ahead.
Kinnear, however, says he will fight to regain control of the union and filed a motion on the matter in court this morning.
“Well there will be legal proceedings,” he told CP24. “We are moving forward with those proceedings today as a matter of fact. Hopefully we’ll have a favourable outcome.”
Kinnear went on to advise union members to be “patient” while lawyers for Local 113 pursue a solution that would allow union leadership to return to the office building and assume control.
“This is an attack on the autonomy of Canadian workers,” he said. “We are a country not a colony. Although, in our organization, we seem to be treated like a colony.”
The matter was heard briefly before a court Friday morning where it was put over to Feb. 17.
In a statement, the TTC said it will make sure the move does not impact transit service in the city.
"The affairs of the TTC’s largest local union (Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 113) and its international parent are unrelated to TTC management or decisions of TTC management," the statement reads. "The TTC is working to ensure this matter has no impact on service. The collective agreements between the TTC and its unions remain in place."
