Torontonians are breathing a collective sigh of relief this morning, following last night’s 11th hour announcement that the threat of a looming Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) strike had come to a halt.
The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 113, which represents nearly 12,000 TTC workers, released a statement shortly after 11:30 p.m. Thursday that it had come to an agreement with the TTC on a “framework settlement” for a new contract that allows it to put a strike on hold.
The union had planned to strike just after midnight if no deal had been reached with the TTC. If the union went on strike, it would have been the city’s first transit strike in 16 years.
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But until nearly midnight, many were unsure about the fate of their morning commute and questioned why their anticipation was forced to run so late into the night.
“So I have to stay up until midnight to figure out if I have to wake up at 5am and walk for 2 hours,” one X user posted.
“Staying up for #TTCStrike updates got the same energy as waking up at 4am trying to figure out if the TDSB would grant a snow day after a treacherous storm,” said another user.
“Could the TTC maybe be slightly more considerate to commuters and set a deadline at like 9pm next time? Some of us have to wake up before 6am if y’all strike and waiting until midnight is just cruel,” expressed another user.
The TTC and ATU had been bargaining since February, with union representatives citing wages, benefits and job security as the main points in talks. Union members voted in favour of strike action in April, after their previous agreement expired at the end of March.
In an online update, TTC CEO Rick Leary said he’s “extremely pleased” with the outcome of the settlement.
“This is a fair deal that is affordable for the TTC and respectful of the important work the 11,500 members of ATU Local 113 do every day to keep our system safe and our service reliable,” Leary said in the press release.
No details on what the tentative framework entails can be shared at this time, as Leary said the settlement still needs to be ratified by the union membership and approved by the TTC Board.
“I’m pleased the TTC and ATU Local 113 have reached a tentative deal,” Toronto Mayor Olivia Chow posted on X. “This ensures no disruption to the public transit service the people of Toronto rely on everyday.”
For now, all the crisis has been averted, though some are curious to know what it would have been like to experience a strike, even just for one day.
The last TTC strike was in 2008, and this was the first time unionized TTC workers were in a legal position to strike since 2011.
