Author: Stephanie Gomez

We held our third training session and mobilized over 60 additional members this week. ATU International organizers have helped train this high-energy group, and they are united to win and ready to go!

Collective Bargaining Update

‘UNITED TO WIN!’ CAMPAIGN

GROWS IN STRENGTH AND NUMBERS!

 The ATU Local 113 Bargaining Committee continues to work diligently to negotiate a strong deal for our members and discussions are ongoing.

‘UNITED TO WIN!’ CAMPAIGN PETITIONS

Since launching our collective bargaining campaign, Local 113 members have stepped up to show their solidarity with our Bargaining team. In just two weeks, our trained Campaign Steering Committee engaged over 45% of our membership at their work locations. We’re proud of this tremendous accomplishment, and the work and dedication that had made this possible! Thank you and keep the momentum going!

‘UNITED TO WIN!’ CAMPAIGN EDUCATION AND TRAINING

We held our third training session and mobilized over 60 additional members this week. ATU International organizers have helped train this high-energy group, and they are united to win and ready to go! ATU International President John Costa visited the training, along with International Vice Presidents and members of their team. We appreciate their solidarity and commitment to our Local!

WHAT YOU CAN DO TO SUPPORT YOUR UNION:

• Sign the petition! Everysignature counts!
• Reach out to your Shop Stewards or the ‘United to Win!’ Steering Committee, to assist with the petition campaign

Let’s show the power of being united! Let’s get a majority of our membership to sign this petition. We’re united to win! The time is NOW!

In solidarity,

Marvin Alfred

President, ATU Local 113                                                                                       

On this International Women’s Day, ATU Local 113 is celebrating the extraordinary contributions of women around the globe. May we continue to advocate for gender equality, uplift women’s voices, and forge a world where every woman has the opportunity to thrive. Here’s to the strength, resilience, and achievements of women today and every day.

This week we successfully completed our collective bargaining training for rank-and-file members. This training has equipped a new group of members with the skills and knowledge needed to effectively support each other and strengthen our collective bargaining efforts. They will continue to support the United to Win petition drive and new campaign initatives in the coming weeks.

We appreciate the effort of ATU International in our collective bargaining campaign and to have ATU International President John Costa and International Vice-Presidents with us, showing commitment and solidarity with ATU Local 113. We’re confident these efforts will lead to a more united and empowered workforce.

Our collective bargaining efforts remain focused on a strong contract for all members.

ATU Local 113 was proud to participate in several Black History Month celebrations over the last few weeks.

Our member, Tunika (Grace) Udoh, is being recognized and celebrated by ATU International for Black History Month! We are proud of her incredible dedication and commitment to the labour movement.

ATU Local 113 Executive members visited a Black History Month display at the union’s Mount Dennis division.

On New Year’s Eve, a large fire occurred on the car of a TTC subway train at the Yonge-Sheppard subway platform on Line 1.  Thankfully, no one lost their life. However, several individuals were injured. It was “fortunate” that the fire broke out while the train was at a station with the doors open to the platform. If the train had been partially or fully in the tunnel at the time of the fire, the outcome could have been very different on account of this train only having a single crew member.

ATU Local 113 has repeatedly raised its concern that the One Person Train Operation poses a serious risk to passenger safety in the event of a fire on board the train.

If this fire occurred in the tunnel, the operator would have been cut off from the passengers by the flames. Assuming the operator was not overcome by fumes,  they would have been able to evacuate themselves through the front of the train, but the passengers would have been left in a smoke-filled train unassisted by any trained personnel.  When and if passengers were able to evacuate themselves they would be going into a tunnel filled with smoke and with a live electrified third rail.

Prior to the TTC implementing One Person Train Operation on this subway line, there were always two operators on board the train. In the event that the fire occurred on a subway train in the tunnel, there would have been an operator on either end who could assist passengers. This would ensure that no passengers would be cut off from trained TTC subway crew onboard the train, and that there would be a crew member to evacuate passengers and cut electric power.

Local 113’s concerns have been ignored by the TTC, presumably so they can “save” literally just a few pennies per ride. The fire that occurred on New Year’s Eve proves that this significant safety concern is not hypothetical, but rather a real one that the TTC should take seriously.

This was a near miss and the TTC should immediately return to two-person operation, as currently exists on Line 2.

On December 17^th, the City of Toronto will mark Transit Worker Assault Awareness Day.

ATU Local 113 continues to advocate strongly for transit workers in Toronto and to fight to make the TTC a safer place to work.

In 2021, Local 113 launched a survey to better understand the experiences and safety concerns of our members. The results highlighted that the problem of violence and harassment is worse than we thought. Our union has  since called on the TTC and the City of Toronto to work with us to make public transit a safer place for workers and passengers alike.

Last year, our union held a joint press conference with ATU Canada, where our members offered their testimony on the violence and assaults they encountered on the job, and the impact these incidents have on their daily lives.

As a result of the union’s due diligence, a Joint Management Health and Safety committee was established to ensure the employer was held accountable for safer work environments for all.

Local 113 continues to pursue several recommendations to develop and implement a comprehensive workers’ safety strategy, including:

Building greater public awareness

As a significant number of assaults on transit workers are committed by members of the public, it is important to develop a better relationship with the public and to create engagement with transit professionals. Conversations must take place within the community to raise awareness. In-person outreach programs can be designed to implement a customer campaign focused on respecting TTC employees and keeping them safe.

Improvements to organizational culture

To support our members and create a workplace environment that prioritizes employees, there needs to be improvements to organizational culture. The TTC needs to improve the current reporting system and actively listen and act upon worker-initiated reports more vigorously. They need to do more to support transit workers mental health, promote diversity and inclusion, improve investigation procedure and risk assessment, provide better training, protection and enforcement, and create external campaigns to increase community engagement.

Investments in improved technology and innovation

Local 113 has recommended that engineering controls be put in place to provide more protective barriers in the workplace to prevent transit workers assaults. Improved communications technology, measures, and procedures for summoning immediate assistance when workplace violence occurs is also required.

Enforcement of proper penalties

There must be consistent and proper enforcement of penalties for members of the public who violate the guidelines on harassment and discrimination or commit acts of violence.

Stopping the violence and assaults on public transit requires collaboration and a commitment to results.

Local 113 will continue to have the voices of our members heard, and advocate for making public transit safer for all.