Eleventh-hour deal that averted TTC strike to cost city of Toronto $176 million
CTV
The cost of the last-minute deal that averted a chaotic strike by the largest union in Toronto’s public transit system is $176 million over three years, according to newly released city records.
The cost of the last-minute deal that averted a chaotic strike by the largest union in Toronto’s public transit system is $176 million over three years, according to newly released city records.
The agreement was worth it to avoid commuter chaos earlier in the summer that could have cost Toronto’s economy millions more, said TTC Chair Jamaal Myers in an interview.
“The big achievement is that there was no labour disruption and that we were able to find an agreement that secures labour peace for three years while staying within the fiscal constraints of the city,” Myers said.
The agreement came in the midst of transit ffunding negotiations with other levels of government, including a provincial pledge to provide support for transit as ridership recovers from the pandemic, he said.
“You see this moment where the stars aligned, and to give credit to the federal government, they’ve just brought on their permanent transit fund. So you see all three levels of government working together to invest in public transit in Toronto. And I think a TTC strike would have just undercut all of that work,” Myers said.
The 12,000 workers in the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 – including subway and bus operators, collectors and maintenance workers – will get an overall pay hike of 13.04 per cent between 2024 and 2026, with increases each year of 4.79, 4.25, and 4 per cent.
The deal came in the wake of a court decision last year that overturned legislation from 2011 under a previous Liberal government that make the TTC an essential service and banned workers from walking off the job.
