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Proposed TTC essential service law violates international labour standards

“Restricting fundamental collective bargaining rights of transit workers just to appease the new anti-union administration at Toronto city hall is a slap in the face to all unions in Ontario and across Canada." - James Clancy, NUPGE national president

Toronto (17 Mar. 2011) - Proposed legislation, Bill 150, TTC Labour Disputes Resolution Act, introduced by the Ontario Liberal government, taking away the right to strike of Toronto’s public transit workers clearly violates international labour standards, according to the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE).

“This is a clear violation of international labour standards set out by the well-respected International Labour Organization (ILO), an agency of the United Nations," noted NUPGE President James Clancy. “A strong principle of the ILO is that governments should give priority to collective bargaining as a means of determining wages and employment conditions of their employees. Bill 150 obviously ignores this important principle."

The Liberal government claims that designating Toronto’s public transit system an essential service was a matter of public health and safety.

"There is no evidence for this, in fact, the police, fire and emergency services have all said that TTC strikes does not interfere with their response times, “ said Bob Kinnear, president of Local 113 of the Amalgamated Transit Union which represents most of Toronto’s public transit workers. “And the Toronto Public Health Department says there is no data on the effects of TTC strikes on public health."

Clancy noted that Kinnear’s assertion is backed up by ILO standards. “Public transit, does not fit the ILO’s definition of essential services and, in fact, there have been a number of ILO rulings over the past several years that have reinforced this view.

“I’m sure Bill 150 will be the subject of a complaint to the ILO, and will be found to be in violation of international labour standards, just as several other anti-union laws passed by this government has been in recent years," said Clancy referring legislation banning part-time college workers and agricultural workers from engaging in collective bargaining."

Clancy continued, “Restricting fundamental collective bargaining rights of transit workers just to appease the new anti-union administration at Toronto city hall is a slap in the face to all unions in Ontario and across Canada."

NUPGE

The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE