The Province’s budget contains many proposals that are of deep concern to Local 113. There are sweeping changes to the City of Toronto Act that could dis-integrate the TTC, remove public control of our transit system, and advance Tory’s plan to contract out TTC jobs.
These proposed changes to the City of Toronto Act are totally unnecessary, dangerous to the integrity of the TTC network, and must not be allowed to move forward.
The cross-border service proposal has nothing to do with service. This legislation is about breaking apart the TTC so that it can be sold off piece by piece. It advances Tory and Leary’s agenda of turning public institutions into private, for-profit services, and replacing quality careers with precarious, underpaid jobs.
It will actively damage service to make it look like public transit costs too much and can’t serve riders. There is no plan, for example, to allocate fare revenue for cross border trips, so riders will either pay a second fare or TTC will lose revenue. For the first time in a century, there could be fare barriers for local service in Toronto.
The strong mayor proposal will allow Tory to continue to work in secret, with his consultants and corporate lobbyists, to eliminate public control and sell off public services, and contract out jobs.
This is not in the best interest of Toronto residents, or of working people.
Local 113 will be fighting these changes. And we are not alone in this fight. Nurses and other vital service providers have also seen their rights taken away by legislation. We stand with all working people to protect our rights, create quality jobs, and be treated with respect in our lives and in our work.