Author: Stephanie Gomez

From across Canada, local ATU presidents came to Toronto to show support for the hardworking sisters and brothers of ATU Local 113. Hear what some of them had to say.

Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 Statement on Canadian Labour Congress Decision to End Unifor Raid Attempt

TORONTO, ONTARIO – (February 10, 2017) – The Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) today informed the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 113 that it has decided to reinstate its rules against raiding the local transit union.

Statement by Manny Sforza, Trustee, ATU Local 113:

“This decision by the CLC speaks to the overwhelming support ATU Local 113 has received in recent days from the vast majority of elected officials, stewards and the hardworking transit workers from across our great city and country. ATU is dedicated to transit workers, and like always, we will keep fighting for the interests of our members in Toronto.

The decision by the CLC to restore rules against raids is good for Canada’s labour movement. However, we remain disappointed by how a spokesperson at the CLC mischaracterized ATU in previous public statements, which was completely disconnected from the support we value from our members.

Bob Kinnear’s unilateral decision to walk away from ATU Local 113 was nothing more than a distraction from what matters most – the hardworking transit workers who move Toronto. With this distraction now behind us, ATU Local 113 will continue to focus on the interests of our members.”

Former ATU 113 president worked against his own union while still on the payroll, made deal with Unifor: trustee

The former president of Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 113 planned his secretive move to transfer the Local’s members to another union while he was still on the ATU’s payroll, ATU Trustee Manny Sforza told reporters today.

Kinnear’s public relations advisor “served as a conduit for communications between Kinnear, his attorneys, and the top leadership of Unifor” while Kinnear was still president of Local 113, Sforza said.

An email discovered in the Local 113 office shows the consultant, who was also paid by the Local, “relayed messages using the personal email account of Mr. Kinnear’s assistant, rather than her Local 113 account, in hopes of keeping this conspiracy secret,” Sfroza said.

In the email dated Feb. 2, the day before the Local was placed under trusteeship, consultant Bill Reno shared a notice of motion against the ATU drafted by Kinnear’s lawyers with two senior Unifor staff members.

In the email, lawyer Sean Dewart of Dewart Gleason LLP asks Reno to “covey all of this to BK [Bob Kinnear] and get the message to the Local’s staff”.
The consultant asked Kinear’s assistant to “please print out the email message and the attachment and give to Bob [Kinnear] asap. Plus I have news from Chris MacDonald [assistant to CLC President Hassan Yussuff] of the CLC. Bob can call me about that.”
“To Mr. Kinnear, the members and leaders of Local 113 have this message: you’ve been exposed. Your game is over. Local 113 is not for sale,” Sforza said.
John Di Nino, a reinstated member of the Local 113 executive, told the news conference that he was approached by a Kinnear operative with the offer of a “patronage job” if he would work for Kinnear.
Frank Grimaldi, another reinstated member of the executive, told the news conference that he supported the international union’s trusteeship to safeguard the Local’s assets and pension plan.

“Kinnear’s actions were underhanded and secretive,” said Sforza. “While being paid by the union, he violated his oath of office and worked actively against the interests of our members. We condemn his actions and the equally secretive and underhanded machinations of Unifor.”
Sforza, an International Vice President of the ATU, is a Toronto resident and longtime executive board member of the Local.

Over half of the leadership team that makes up the Toronto Transit Commission local union has been reinstated by their parent U.S.-based Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU).

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Following misinformed statements recently made by officers of the Canadian Labour Congress regarding the temporary trusteeship of ATU Local 113, the Amalgamated Transit Union sent the following letter to CLC President Hassan Yussuff.

Committee votes to prioritize random drug and alcohol testing for TTC workers over subway maintenance and track safety programs.

The head of the TTC worker’s union is criticizing a decision by a city committee to add money to this year’s budget to pay for random drug testing of transit employees, while at the same time declining to fund new subway reliability and track safety programs.

As part of an omnibus motion on the city’s 2017 spending plan, councillors on the budget committee voted Tuesday to fund two items that the TTC requested but were originally left out of the agency’s preliminary budget.

The committee agreed to spend $1.3 million on the controversial drug testing plan, and $98,000 to employ additional transit enforcement officers.

However, there are still $4.4 million worth of “new and enhanced” services that TTC staff requested but remain unfunded. They include $1.2 million to improve signal, track, and power reliability on the subway system, a program that TTC staff say addresses “safety critical systems.”

Also unfunded is $1.3-million for a subway safety plan — which would employ watchpersons to manage train traffic when crews are at track level — and $1.9 million for retraining workers as the TTC switches to the Presto smart card system.

The budget could still change before council approves it next month, but Bob Kinnear, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 said, the committee’s decision was “very short sighted.”

“We’ve seen the results of not being proactive when it comes to maintaining our equipment,” he said, citing the “hot car” issue that plagued subways on Line 2 (Bloor-Danforth) last summer.

He said the track safety program is also vital. In 2012, a track worker died when he was struck by a maintenance train near Yorkdale station.

“Our track workers work in very difficult conditions. They’re in a very confined area, they’re working with 600 volts of electricity, so every possible measure that could be taken to improve or maintain their safety should not be disregarded,” Kinnear said.

Asked whether the TTC agreed with the budget committee’s decision to prioritize the drug testing program over the other items, a spokesperson for the agency issued a brief statement.

“TTC staff believe all of these matters are important, which is why we included them in the budget,” wrote Stuart Green in an email. “The TTC board will need to direct staff on next steps if council supports the budget committee’s recommendations.”

Budget chief councillor Gary Crawford said the committee decided to fund drug testing after a “dialogue” with the TTC during a recent budget meeting. “Some difficult choices had to be made as part of the budget process and we couldn’t do everything,” he said.

In an emailed statement, TTC chair Josh Colle said that he was “pleased” the drug program and transit enforcement officers received funding, and noted that the two programs “were investments that were endorsed by the TTC board.” He didn’t say whether he felt they were more important than the items that were left unfunded.

Kinnear’s union opposes random drug and alcohol testing, which the TTC has been pursuing since shortly after the 2007 death of one its workers, who was later found to have marijuana in his system.

The transit agency argues that random testing is necessary to ensure the safety of workers and customers, while the union argues that it’s a violation of employees’ rights.

In December, the TTC announced that it would begin the testing on Mar. 1. The Star has learned that the union has since filed a court injunction against the program, and hearings are scheduled for Feb. 28 and Mar. 1.

The TTC now says it plans to start the program on Apr. 1, pending the outcome of the hearings.

The 2017 budget will go to the mayor’s executive committee next month, with a final vote expected at council’s Feb. 15 meeting.