[URBAN NOTE] "TTC labour complaint says union condoned illegal strike"

[rfmcdonald]

The Toronto Star's Ben Spurr reports on an allegation of a Nuit Blanche illegal strike by TTC workers.

The TTC has filed an application with the Ontario Labour Relations Board claiming that transit agency’s union condoned an illegal strike during Nuit Blanche.

Only a handful of subway operators signed up to work a special overnight shift in the early hours of last Sunday morning during Toronto’s annual all-night art party.

The TTC needed about 40 drivers for the overtime shift, but of more than 600 operators, only nine signed up, and the agency used supervisors to drive the trains instead.

The lower than expected take-up came a week before the implementation of TTC plans to eliminate the guard position on some of its subway trains, a move that union leadership vehemently opposes.

The Nuit Blanche shift was voluntary, but in a notice sent to employees Friday, TTC chief people officer Gemma Piemnontese said management had evidence in the form of social media posts that showed there was “a clear, concerted effort” to “illegally disrupt TTC service.”