Appeal court upholds TTC workers' right to strike, as potential job action looms

Ontario's top court has upheld the right of Toronto Transit Commission workers to strike, a decision that comes just days before potential job action. A TTC driver operates a bus in Toronto on Thursday, April 23, 2020. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Nathan Denette

TORONTO — Ontario's top court has upheld the right of Toronto Transit Commission workers to strike, a decision that comes just days before potential job action.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario today dismissed an appeal by the provincial government of a lower court ruling that declared a law eliminating the workers' right to strike unconstitutional.

The Ontario government in 2011, under the Liberals, enacted a law banning unionized TTC workers from striking, which government lawyers in this appeal said came after "unusually frequent strike action and immediate ad-hoc back-to-work legislation."

A Superior Court judge found last year that the law interfered with workers' collective bargaining rights, and the Appeal Court today agreed.

The decision was a split one, with two out of the three Appeal Court judges siding with the union.

The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 – which represents about 12,000 operators and other front-life staff at the TTC – could go on strike as early as June 7 in a current bargaining dispute and says the court decision is a historic win for working people.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 23, 2024.

The Canadian Press