TTC union boss says he was booted by American 'invasion'
Amalgamated Transit Union says Bob Kinnear was suspended for trying to split local from union
Bob Kinnear, the president of the local arm of an international union that represents some 11,000 TTC workers, was ousted from his position Friday in what he's calling an "invasion" by the American side of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU).
But the ATU issued a statement that said Kinnear was suspended for running a "secretive effort" to get Toronto's Local 113 out of the union without its members' knowledge.
For now, the union has been placed in temporary trusteeship, the ATU said, with a former executive vice president, Manny Sforza, in charge.
Kinnear said the ATU, which is based in Maryland but represents transit unions throughout the United States and across Canada, took over the Toronto office overnight. He said he's planning to file a court injunction to block the takeover.
"This organization has shown Canadians nothing but disdain over the past couple of years," Kinnear said.
Kinnear alleges the major shakeup is due to Local 113's affiliation with the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC). Recently, Kinnear said he approached the CLC to mediate a dispute between his workers and the ATU, and he believes that led to today's action.
"They don't believe in Canadian autonomy," he said, adding he didn't want Local 113 to separate from the ATU.
Canadian Labour Congress was set to hear Local 113's complaints
Chris MacDonald, political assistant to the president of the Canadian Labour Congress, said Local 113 asked the CLC to mediate some issues it had with the ATU two days ago.
The CLC arranged to hear Local 113's problems at a meeting on Feb. 9, MacDonald said, but then the ATU found out and removed Kinnear and the rest of Local 113's brass.
"Our view is that it's retaliatory," MacDonald said.
"This is certainly not acceptable," he added.
MacDonald said while the mediation process could have resulted in Local 113 leaving the ATU altogether, more than 90 per cent of cases the CLC handles are resolved, and that his organization wanted to create a positive relationship between the two sides. Unions only split, he said, when there are issues that are broken beyond repair.
TTC service won't be affected
In a statement, the TTC said the union matter is unrelated to its management and said it's working to ensure the matter has no impact on service.
Mayor John Tory said transit service will continue as normal, but he's hoping the union will be able to sort out its issues as soon as possible.
CUPE 5089, the local that represents special constables and fare inspectors at the TTC, tweeted that the move was "excellent news," and that a leadership change was long overdue.
They added "we look forward to new era of open communication between our two unions."
Local 113 also represents some 170 Veolia Transportation bus drivers in York Region.