Statement from TTC CEO Rick Leary on bargaining with CUPE Local 2

The TTC and CUPE Local 2 (electrical skilled trades) have been working to reach a fair negotiated collective agreement. Employees in this group include streetcar overhead and subway signal maintainers, among others.

Although negotiations are ongoing, yesterday, CUPE Local 2 members voted in favour of a strike mandate. While members are technically in a legal strike position now, both CUPE and TTC representatives remain at the bargaining table with the intention of reaching a negotiated settlement without the need for job action.

Last November, the TTC Board approved a bargaining mandate. We’re committed to reaching an agreement that is fair to Local 2 employees while being affordable for the taxpayers of Toronto.

In the wake of a 2023 court ruling, this is the first time in nearly 13 years any unionized TTC employees would be able to take job action, up to and including a work stoppage. Again, our hope is that Local 2 remains at the table and its members do not initiate job action.

I want to assure everyone that we have contingency plans in place, and we will keep everyone advised of them once we know what Local 2 decides to do. Our contingency plans are designed to allow us to preserve as much service as possible while also respecting the rights of this group of employees. The plans also take into consideration the ability of other employees to do their jobs during a labour disruption and how we would accommodate them.

My top commitment remains the safety of our employees and customers, and delivering reliable service without compromise. However, I also believe that any job action could have an impact on the TTC’s ability to deliver full service without disruption.

The TTC values the challenging work all our 17,000 employees do every day to deliver safe and reliable service to millions of riders every week – the employees in Local 2 are an important part of our operations.

I am committed to keeping our customers and employees apprised of any changes related to these negotiations in a timely manner. We encourage all our employees and our customers to check our website at www.ttc.ca/labourdisruption for the most current updates.

In the meantime, we will continue to negotiate in good faith with the ultimate goal being an agreement that avoids job action and service disruptions.