Leadership of TTC local removed from their positions by American-based union: Kinnear

Some of the local representatives of the local union representing TTC transit workers have been reinstated by the U.S.-based parent union amid a power struggle between the leadership of the local and the parent unions.

The entire leadership of the union representing TTC workers, including President Bob Kinnear, were removed from their positions, following an attempt to reconsider an affiliation with its U.S.-based parent union.

Kinnear told CP24 on Friday morning that all 17 local officers of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 were removed from their roles early this morning after officials with the central Amalgamated Transit Union "trusteed" the local.

Kinnear said the move comes days after ATU Local 113 filed an application with the Canadian Labour Congress that would have enabled members “to make a determination on what union they want to affiliate themselves with.”

“It is a democratic process that allows the 11,000 members who operate the TTC a democratic opportunity to vote and make a determination on how they want to move forward and this American-based union does not want to permit our Canadian members to have their democratic rights as they should have,” he said.

However late Friday evening, the ATU international representative who took over the trusteeship of ATU Local 113 said that 10 of the officers had been reinstated.  

“11 officers that I met with today are extremely angry that Bob Kinnear moved forward with this plan without advising, or allowing them to vote on this matter,” Manny Sforza told CTV News Toronto in an email.

He said it is “business as usual” at Local 113.

ATU says Kinnear was behind secretive effort to split with union

Kinnear said that officials with the ATU entered the local’s office in the “middle of the night” and unilaterally took control, locking out officials with Local 113.

The ATU, however, said that it was Kinnear who was behind “a unilateral attempt” to remove the local from a union it has been affiliated with for 120 years.

“Kinnear’s secretive effort to split Local 113 away from its fellow ATU Canada locals was done without the members’ knowledge or consent or that of their executive,” the Amalgamated Transit Union said in a statement provided to CP24. “Because his actions represent a clear violation of the union’s constitution and general laws, the international union has placed the local in temporary trusteeship.”

According to the statement provided by the ATU, the trusteeship has been put in place “to restore democratic procedures and assure continuous representation” of members.

The union said that for the time being ATU Local 113 will be led by former local executive member Manny Sforza, who is currently the international vice president of the parent union.

Kinnear unsuccessfully ran against Sforza for his current position with the ATU in October.

“The trustee will be communicating directly with the members and the public in the coming hours and days,” the statement said.

Court action being pursued

While Kinnear and other leaders of ATU Local 113 are no longer in control of the union, the group are pursuing a court injunction to regain control.

Speaking with CP24, Kinnear said it is “not likely” that the matter will be resumed outside of court at this point, calling it a “declaration of war.”

“This organization has shown disdain towards Canada and the Canadian members of this union for a number of years. It is quite obvious that the American-based union wants to treat Canada as a colony rather than a country,” he said.

The ATU is based in Maryland and represents 200,000 members in Canada and the U.S.

In an interview with CP24 on Friday, Chris MacDonald of the Canadian Labour Congress confirmed that ATU Local 113 had written his organization a letter to begin the process of voting on its membership in the ATU.

“Our process calls for us to get together with both parties, try to identify the issues and the vast majority of the time we are able to fix those things but in an unexpected move the international union came and put the local under trusteeship,” he said. “In the couple of years I have been managing this file; certainly we have never seen this kind of retaliatory response.”

The TTC has said that it will not comment on the dispute between Local 113 and its parent union because it is "unrelated to TTC management or decisions of TTC management."