Author: nanderson

To improve the TTC, the Government should fund it properly – not break it apart. A divided system raises issues of accountability and integration while taking the first step in a slippery slope towards privatization, delays and fare hikes. ATU Local 113 calls on Torontonians to stand together to protect the public transit system we all rely on – and pay for — by signing the petition. You can also read an in-depth explainer on why uploading Toronto’s subway is a bad idea below.

We own it

The people of Toronto pay for the subway through property taxes and fares. We will be giving up this valuable asset in return for a sum that falls far short of what is needed to keep the system in good repair.

Premier Ford has pledged $5 billion in new money for subways in Toronto. But according to transit experts, that will barely cover the cost of maintaining the subway. What happens if the provincial government decides not to invest the money needed to keep the subway running safely and efficiently? Or what if there is a disagreement between the city and the province over what expenditure is required?

A system in chaos

The TTC is currently a deeply integrated system. Buses connect with streetcars and subways; station staff serve passengers of all forms of transit; TTC maintenance and operations buildings are shared with subway facilities; materials for all kinds of vehicles are procured by the same TTC department; building trades do construction, plumbing and electrical work for all services. Transit Control has a direct line to emergency services for all TTC facilities.

If the subway handed over to Metrolinx, these services will no longer be under one authority. Transit experts predict that detaching one part of the system will deliver administrative chaos, political conflict and planning gridlock for years to come.

Higher fares

The TTC is currently a deeply integrated system. Buses connect with streetcars and subways; station staff serve passengers of all forms of transit; TTC maintenance and operations buildings are shared with subway facilities; materials for all kinds of vehicles are procured by the same TTC department; building trades do construction, plumbing and electrical work for all services. Transit Control has a direct line to emergency services for all TTC facilities.

According to a recent report, the TTC relies on the farebox more than any other city in North America, with 70% of revenue coming from fares.

Some portions of the subway are very profitable, and their surpluses help subsidize the rest of the system. If the TTC lost revenue from the subway, fares on buses and streetcars would have to rise to compensate.

No say

Uploading the subway will take transit planning out of the hands of city planners and council who are accountable to the people of Toronto.

If the upload goes ahead, the subway would be transferred to Metrolinx, the province’s transportation agency. Unlike Toronto City Council, Metrolinx is unaccountable to the public. Metrolinx board meetings are closed to the public and there are no in-person deputations allowed, including by politicians or city councillors. Metrolinx board members are recruited from the private sector and are appointed, not elected. If Metrolinx becomes responsible for the subway, who will citizens advocate or complain to about service levels, cleanliness, or fares?

Opens the door to privatization

Uploading is the first step towards selling off the system to the private sector.

Monte McNaughton, Ontario Minister of Infrastructure says his government is committed to using the private sector to deliver transportation infrastructure. But privatization has failed in many other jurisdictions. Private companies have no incentive to keep fares reasonable or to provide services that are unprofitable. They cut corners on maintenance to save money for shareholders. Financial problems can cause them to raise prices on a project, go bankrupt or walk away, leaving the public sector to pick up the pieces.

Loss of good jobs in Ontario

Currently, TTC subway workers are covered by a collective agreement that provides decent wages, job security, pensions and health and safety protection. These jobs contribute to the economic well-being of workers’ families and their communities. The proposal to upload the subway leaves the future of thousands of transit workers in the GTA uncertain.

Following the Ontario Government’s 2018 Ontario Economic Outlook and Fiscal Review, read TTCriders’ response.

“Millions of transit riders across Ontario are counting on Premier Ford to deliver better transit starting in 2019,” said TTCriders Executive Director Shelagh Pizey-Allen. “Premier Ford must increase transit funding to cities and towns so transit riders see better, more affordable commutes.”

More than 100 municipalities expect increased transit funding in 2019 from the provincial government, with the TTC set to receive approximately $170 million in new funding per year, beginning with $40 million in 2019. The provincial contribution to the TTC is allocated to operating and capital costs, including accessibility upgrades.

“Transit cuts have left York students stranded. The province needs to step up and increase funding so we can get to class without paying double or triple fares,” said Sébastien Lalonde, executive member of the York Federation of Students. More than 15,000 people have signed a YFS petition (www.YURide.ca) opposing Metrolinx’s cancellation of GO bus service and YRT’s departure from York University’’s Keele campus.

The Economic Statement did not mention the $3 GO and Union Pearson Express fares proposed in the 2018 provincial budget, a key component of Mayor John Tory’s SmartTrack plan. The 2018 budget proposed $3 GO fares within Toronto or for trips under 10 kilometres.

The City of Toronto subsidizes the TTC at a rate of $1.07 per rider, which represents one of the lowest per-rider subsidies in North America. The TTC approved a Ridership Growth Strategy and an expanded Express Bus Network Plan, but both plans lack full funding. TTC ridership has stagnated for the last four years. The TTC intends to raise fares in 2019.

The provincial government reaffirmed its plan to take the TTC’s heavy rail assets. “The TTC belongs to us. Transit riders and taxpayers paid for the subway and we’re not about to let Doug Ford steal away the TTC’s most valuable asset,” said TTCriders member Vincent Puhakka. “We don’t want a two-tiered transit system where low income riders are stuck taking slow, overcrowded buses, while subway and rapid transit fares go through the roof.”

ATU Local 113, in collaboration with the Women’s Committee, encourages its brothers to join the growing movement of men who wear white ribbons in recognition of their pledge to never commit, condone or remain silent about violence against women and girls.

The White Ribbon Campaign began in Toronto in 1991 following the senseless killing of 14 female students in Montreal two years prior. Today, the White Ribbon Campaign has expanded to over 60 countries and is a symbol of men’s opposition to male violence against women.

ATU Local 113 members can show their support by taking the White Ribbon pledge, which inspires positive change for the women and girls we respect in our lives.

The pledge is a commitment to:

1. Never commit, condone or stay silent about violence against women
2. Show that you really mean it by promising to:

• Talk to a younger man about consent
• Share feminist calls to action and news on social media
• Support women’s organizations and shelters that provide services to survivors of violence
• Ask peers to not use sexist or violent language when referring to women
• Create safe and supportive spaces for the women by practicing active listening
• Encourage and support gender equality initiatives at work
• Talk to men about why gender equality is important and how they can play an active role
• Make a plan of action

https://www.whiteribbon.ca/pledge.html

Along with the pledge, the campaign encourages men and boys to wear a white ribbon from November 25, the International Day for the Eradication of Violence Against Women, until Canada’s National Day of Remembrance and Action on Violence Against Women on December 6.

Share the pledge on social media, by email and through talking with your friends, family and ATU Local 113 brothers.

Read the Toronto Star’s Transportation reporter Ben Spurr’s article TTC blocked from contracting out transit operations as arbitrator ends contract dispute.

Toronto’s public transit workers congratulate all those who were elected to city council. With Mayor John Tory’s re-election, ATU Local 113 renews its call for the mayor and all city councillors to stand-up and defend our public transit system. With the threat of Queen’s Park uploading the TTC Subway from Torontonians, our city needs a strong council that will fight to keep public transit in Toronto’s hands. The 11,000 transit workers who move Toronto expect city council to continue its support for a public transit system while improving and expanding service for riders.

With municipal election voting underway, Torontonians who care about our city must support and elect candidates who will keep transit public and oppose Premier Doug Ford’s disastrous plan to upload the TTC Subway to the province.

These candidates, endorsed by the Toronto and York Region Labour Council, will fight for Torontonians and stand up to Premier Ford and his Progressive Conservative government.

Today’s endorsements follow the Toronto and York Region Labour Council’s exhaustive interviews and examination of candidates’ voting records.

“City Hall is Toronto’s strongest advocate and the new mayor and council must send a clear message to Doug Ford: the TTC’s Subway belongs to Toronto,” said Frank Grimaldi, President of ATU Local 113. “Our public transit system must be properly funded, not broken apart, and any efforts to upload the TTC Subway will lead to reduced service, higher fares and more delays on much needed transit expansion for Toronto riders.”

With so much at stake, ATU Local 113 calls on all Torontonians who care about our public transit system  to vote on October 22, or in the advance polls from October 10 to 14. More details on where to vote here.

Torontonians are also encouraged to volunteer with candidates who will help build a better public transit system for all Torontonians.

The full list of endorsed city council candidates are below. See them on a map alongside Toronto and York Region Labour Council endorsed School Board candidates.

For ATU members, find the campaign contact details and your ATU ward captain here.

Ward 3 (Etobicoke Lakeshore): Amber Morley

Ward 4 (Parkdale-High Park): Gord Perks

Ward 5 (York South Weston): Lekan Olawoye

Ward 6 (York Centre): Maria Augimeri

Ward 7 (Humber River Black Creek): Anthony Perruzza

Ward 9 (Davenport): Ana Bailao

Ward 10 (Spadina-Fort York): Joe Cressy

Ward 11 (University Rosedale): Michael Layton

Ward 12 (St. Paul’s): Joe Mihevc

Ward 13 (Toronto Centre): Kristyn Wong-Tam

Ward 14 (Toronto Danforth): Paula Fletcher

Ward 17 (Don Valley North): Shelley Carroll

Ward 18 (Willowdale): Saman Tabasinejad

Ward 19 (Beaches East York): Matthew Kellway

Ward 20 (Scarborough Southwest): Suman Roy*

Ward 23 (Scarborough North): Felicia Samuel

Ward 25 (Scarborough Rouge Park): Neethan Shan

*Suman Roy, though not officially endorsed, was instrumental in organizing food service workers at U of T into CUPE Local 3261. No Labour Council endorsed candidates are running in Ward 20.

Metrolinx’s CEO Phil Verster went on the record last week with his claim that uploading the TTC’s subway to the province would be “quite straightforward.” He even likened the takeover of the cornerstone of Toronto’s public transit system to the troubled Eglinton Crosstown LRT scheme.

Torontonians know all too well that when the Eglinton Crosstown LRT is the blueprint for future subway lines, we should all be concerned.

Here are three lessons Torontonians have learned when Metrolinx is at the helm of transit projects in our city:

1. Delays and Lawsuits: the private multinational consortium in charge of building the Eglinton Crosstown LRT recently took Metrolinx and Infrastructure Ontario to court to delay the project’s timeline due to “challenges they encountered.” Crosslinx Transit Solutions, the private consortium, was supposed to finish the project in 2020, but it is now scheduled to be operational in 2021. Given its troubled history, could we see more delays? The three parties recently settled for an unknown amount by raiding the government’s contingency fund – leaving taxpayers in the dark about what they agreed to and how much money they doled out.
2. Loss of Control to Private Companies: Metrolinx awarded the Eglinton Crosstown LRT contract to the private consortium, Crosslinx Transit Solutions, which then flipped the contract for maintenance work to Bombardier. With this complicated arrangement, Metrolinx has virtually lost control to two private companies who care foremost about profits. And by having Bombardier responsible for maintenance, Metrolinx has stuck Toronto with a company that cannot even deliver our new streetcars on time.
3. Lack of Experience: Metrolinx is a tiny operation compared to the TTC. Looking at the GO network, Metrolinx doesn’t even drive or maintain its own trains – they rely on private companies for this work, including Bombardier. Yes, the same company that both Metrolinx and the TTC have faced in court! The TTC Subway is a complex network that tens of thousands of passengers rely on each day. It demands careful attention from experienced TTC operators and maintenance workers to keep Toronto moving. As the system undergoes major expansions – why take control of it from those who know it best?

Torontonians built, own and paid for our subway. The proposed upload is a first step on the slippery slope towards privatization, higher fares and less service for our public transit system. Sign and share the petition today to stop Doug Ford and keep our subway in Toronto hands.