TORONTO, ONTARIO – Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 113 honours residential school survivors and the children who never come home on the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation. Our union affirms our commitment to reconciliation with Indigenous peoples and honours ATU Local 113 members who are Indigenous.
ATU Local 113 President Carlos Santos, who leads the local that represents 12,000 TTC workers, is calling on the TTC Board to take a progressive role and add September 30 to the list of designated statutory holidays.
This public call follows a series of letters where ATU Local 113 requested that TTC management demonstrate leadership by joining other transit organizations and governments that already recognize the National Day for Truth and Reconciliation on September 30, 2021 as a holiday. This includes the City of Mississauga’s MiWay and Brampton Transit, as well as several other public organizations across Canada.
“This is a unique opportunity for the TTC to show leadership and honour First Nations, Inuit and Métis survivors and their families, as well as the broader communities,” said Carlos Santos, ATU Local 113 President. “Ensuring public commemoration of the tragic history and destructive legacies of colonization and the residential schools is a vital component of the reconciliation process for our Indigenous and non-Indigenous members.”
These calls for action follow ATU Local 113’s comprehensive Indigenous History Month program in June 2021 to honour Peoples of the First Nations, Metis, Inuit and diverse Indigenous Peoples across the continent, including many TTC workers.
Click here to read ATU Local 113’s Land Acknowledgment.