Preparing for a mass transit strike in Toronto...grab that longboard!

[skategeezer]

Gas hit $1.20 a liter here - that's a 20 cent jump in less than a month and oh yeah, we're about to get hit with this...

Prepare for a strike, TTC union head says

Kinnear says there's still time for mayor to intervene; Miller says the two sides should settle it on their own


JEFF GRAY
From Friday's Globe and Mail
April 18, 2008 at 3:02 AM EDT

<LI _counted="undefined">TTC talks described as close to boiling point </UL>
</DIV>He also demanded that Mayor David Miller - due to return on Sunday from a trade mission to China - personally intervene in the talks: "There is still time for the mayor to stop this action. Everybody knows that the mayor calls the shots when it comes to the TTC settlement. ... There should be a sign on the mayor's desk that says, 'The bus stops here.' "
In a conference call with reporters earlier in the day, Mr. Miller said the union and the TTC should negotiate on their own, although he said he was being constantly briefed on the talks. He said the TTC could not afford to be "overly generous," and that the deal had to be "responsible" as it would be a precedent for the city's other unions.
While Mr. Miller did have an 11th hour phone conversation with Mr. Kinnear as a strike loomed in 2005, Mr. Miller said that was different, because it was Mr. Kinnear's first round of bargaining as union leader.
"As far as I am concerned, they should be able to reach an agreement without the intervention of me, or of the chair of the TTC, for that matter," Mr. Miller said. "The conditions are all there, and I think if both sides act with goodwill they should be able to settle it."
Mr. Kinnear, whose union was blamed for a one-day illegal walkout in May, 2006, had last week made a demand - immediately rebuffed - that the chairman of the TTC, Adam Giambrone, step in personally.
This is common in talks with city unions, both because it is an easy way to bring political pressure to bear, and because Mr. Miller and his allies on council - a group that includes Mr. Giambrone - are seen as sympathetic to organized labour.
Mr. Giambrone said he believes a strike could be averted and that he has full confidence in the TTC managers doing the negotiating. As of yesterday, he had not discussed back-to-work legislation with the province, he said.
Asked how he would get to work if there is a walkout, Mr. Giambrone - who does not own a car - said he would switch to pedal power: "I am the former chair of the cycling committee. ... I've got my bike ready."
Ontario Labour Minister Brad Duguid said yesterday he is optimistic that a strike can be averted.
"The good news is the parties have been speaking for some time," he told reporters. "The other good news is that they're continuing to speak. I have some optimism that that's leading in the right direction."
The TTC logs 1.5 million trips a day, and to deal with the expected increase in car traffic, the city has put together a contingency plan that bans parking on key routes and sets up carpool lots at community centres.
In the last legal walkout by TTC workers, in 1999, which lasted two days before the province legislated the union back to work, traffic congestion increased but the worst-case scenarios feared by some city officials did not materialize.
GO Transit, which saw a big increase in ridership in the 1999 TTC strike, warned yesterday that it had no extra buses or trains to alleviate crowding in the event of a TTC walkout.
</DIV>