Author: nanderson

ATU Local 113 is in solidarity with ATU Local 1587, transit workers at GO Transit & Metrolinx. We encourage members to show support including by joining their picket lines when off duty.

We remind Local 113 members that as they carry out their regular duties, they may encounter legal picket lines. In these situations, members should proceed in a manner which ensures the safety of the public, other workers, and themselves. No attempt should be made to cross a picket line where it is unsafe to do so.

The Eglinton Crosstown LRT was originally proposed in 2007 and scheduled to start service in 2020. If it had proceeded as planned, we would have been able to ride a publicly owned and operated new line two years ago. Instead, we’re still waiting for the more expensive, privatized version.

Metrolinx and the Province, with the support of TTC and City Council, insisted that the line be built through a public-private partnership, or P3. This takes longer, since years were spent tendering the work and negotiating the contracting out. It also costs more, since private builders need to make a profit and face higher borrowing costs than government.

In a P3, the public pays extra in exchange for certainty on the time and cost of construction. According to the Province’s own value for money assessment the Crosstown P3 would cost $472 million more than traditional procurement.

Their argument was that the extra time and cost was worth it because the private builder took on any risk of delay or cost overrun.

How did that work out?

In 2010, when construction started it was supposed to be completed by 2020.

In 2018 and 2020, Crosslinx, the private builder, successfully sued Metrolinx, forcing them to pay $325 million due to delays caused by COVID-19, a structural defect at Eglinton Station, and technical claims.

In 2020, the opening date was pushed to 2022.

Now, the opening is delayed again – and they can’t even say how long.

And it’s not over yet. There is no projected completion date, and the budget could still go way up.

Was it worth it?

By the time it’s done private construction could be a billion dollars more than traditional, public procurement. Most of the details are being kept secret from the public. We believe the public has a right to know how our taxes are being spent.

The Confederation Line in Ottawa was built in a similar manner, and has caused a similar series of lawsuits, as well as dozens of safety complaints, difficulty operating in the snow, repeated delays, fire, odour, flooding, and derailments leading to a public inquiry.

We can’t let the same thing happen in Toronto.

The public has a right to know

ATU Local 113 is calling on the City to launch an independent inquiry into the delays and cost increases, and for our members to have a seat at the table.

We are going to have to pay to operate it, surely, we deserve to know how much it cost

The racially-motivated shooting in Buffalo on Saturday filled us all with horror and sadness. The loss of life in senseless violence is always a tragedy, but the murder of innocent people who were targeted because of their identity is especially painful.

We feel this anger and grief every time we hear about an attack on Black and other racialized groups, or religious, ethnic, LGBTQ2S+ or other minority groups who have been targeted. Each time we want to believe it is the last one, but it isn’t. Every attack is motivated by a belief system that values some lives over others, and they will not end unless we change those beliefs.

It reminds us that we need to keep working every day, in our communities, our workplaces and in our shared institutions to root out this ideology of hate. Within our union family we need to continue to learn and educate each other, and to have difficult but necessary conversations about the beliefs systems that make racist violence possible. By challenging our own assumptions and biases, we can fight injustice in the world around us more effectively.