Legislative trial balloons to ban strikes at the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) contrary to the wishes of the City of Toronto will backfire and Dalton McGuinty should direct his caucus to focus on constructive action to create jobs and fight the recession, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE) Ontario’s new President Fred Hahn said today in London, Ontario.
“Instead of starting a fight with the City of Toronto over a policy no one involved wants, the Liberals should focus on fighting the recession by investing more in job creation,” Hahn said.
Responding to news reports about a Liberal private member’s Bill to constrain free collective bargaining, Hahn, who was meeting today with CUPE members at a London conference centre said, “It’s regrettable that the Premier can’t impose enough discipline on his caucus to avoid counterproductive and time-wasting Bills like this one.”
Hahn reminded his audience that, in over 98% of cases, collective bargaining leads to a peaceful resolution and a legally binding contract without a strike.
“Our experience at CUPE,” Hahn said, “is that, in the majority of cases, employers and employees alike prefer to negotiate their agreements rather than have a settlement imposed upon them by a third party through arbitration, which is what David Caplan’s Bill calls for.”
CUPE Local 2 represents maintenance workers at the TTC and CUPE also represents transit workers in other communities, including workers at OC Transpo in Ottawa.
For information, please contact:
Fred Hahn President, CUPE Ontario 416-540-3979
Chris Watson CUPE Communications 416-553-9410