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The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) and its union say they have reached a “framework agreement,” narrowly avoiding a city-wide transit shutdown.
Less than an hour before the strike deadline, The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 113 said in a statement that it had reached a tentative agreement with the TTC amid tense negotiations on job security, wages and more.
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“We are pleased to announce that we have reached a framework settlement with the TTC that allows us to put the strike on hold,” the statement said.
“We asked the TTC for assurance on job security, for protections on contracting out our jobs, for improvement in benefits for active members and pensioners,” the statement continued. “Today we finally saw action on these critical issues.”
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The ATU said it still needs to finalize the details before presenting a contract proposal to its members. The agreement also requires approval from the TTC board, and no details have been released yet.
The union, which represents more than 11,000 frontline TTC staff, previously said negotiations with the city were at an “impasse” just hours before the midnight deadline.
TTC workers have been up for a new contract since their last one expired on March 31.
Last month, Ontario’s top court upheld the ATU’s legal right to strike, reversing legislation imposed by the Ontario Liberal government in 2011, which declared TTC workers were essential and could not do so.
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In 2015, a Supreme Court ruling involving the Saskatchewan Federation of Labour recognized the right to strike in the Charter of Rights and Freedoms’ guarantee of freedom of association.
Last year, an Ontario Superior Court judge, citing the Saskatchewan case, struck down the law, declaring that naming TTC workers as essential was unconstitutional. After the decision, the ATU announced it had set a strike date of June 7 amid current contract negotiations.
The last TTC strike in 2008 lasted less than a weekend because the province passed legislation ordering workers to return to work. The provincial government did not say if it would impose back-to-work legislation to end a potential strike.
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