Could it happen
again? After Monday’s surprise shutdown of the TTC, and with no sign
that labour relations are about to improve, riders might wonder if
another illegal strike is possible.
If the
positions staked out by the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) local
113, TTC management and city politicians harden, then we can expect
to hear continued rumblings of discontent from transit workers. And
riders.
There has been
a turn toward highly critical comments aimed at key players of the
dispute, a trend that puts personal ego in the way of good
decision-making.
A recent
advertisement paid for by the ATU -- a version appeared in
Wednesday’s Metro -- takes to task transit commission chair Howard
Moscoe, Toronto mayor David Miller and TTC chief general manager
Rick Ducharme for their supposed positions on the way drivers should
deal with fare disputes.
This follows
widespread criticism of the way ATU president Bob Kinnear handled
the wildcat strike that unfolded in the early hours of Monday. It’s
as if the TTC’s dirty laundry is being hung out above Yonge Street.
In this battle
for public opinion, the reputation of the TTC is a major casualty.
Riders may be able to overlook the personalities of the officials in
order to determine whether workers are being dealt with fairly, but
it’s tough to get the gist of complicated issues when emotions are
running high.
Yet it was
unfair to suspend TTC service with no notice to customers, many of
whom couldn’t make alternate arrangements. If transit employees wish
to prove that the process of dealing with genuine work complaints is
not working, they have to find another method.
Illegally
shutting down the third busiest transit service in North America is
not acceptable. If the arbitration system in place to handle
disagreements between the union and management is faltering, let’s
scrutinize it publicly.
If the speed of
responding to safety or other issues is related to tight budgets,
then all parties need to admit it.
If this is
about ego, or giving vent to anger, please put that aside. Reports
are that transit users reacted in a dignified way after service
resumed, despite the way they felt about the shutdown.
But we expect
progress. When the transit system in San Francisco was in crisis a
few years ago, one of the ways that authorities kept track of the
situation was public polls of both employees and riders. The TTC
should immediately consider if such a process can work here, both to
get useful feedback from paying customers, and to keep closer tabs
on worker morale.