King Arthur Movie Tristan

It is being reported tonight that 65% of Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) members have rejected the contract reached last weekend between the TTC and their union. The TTC will, surprisingly shut down operations at midnight tonight: anybody who went into Toronto for the night will be be out of luck for getting home after midnight:

"We have assessed the situation and decided that we will not expose our members to the dangers of assaults from angry and irrational members of the public," said Bob Kinnear, ATU Local 113 President.

The big issue seems to be that maintenance staff did not receive the infamous highest paid in the GTA clause that front line TTC staff received.

Question for Bob Kinnear: who is going to protect the public from the irrational members of your union?

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UPDATE: A "visibly angered' David Miller, mayor of Toronto, called the strike "unacceptable and irresponsible." He asked Bob Kinnear to give 48 hours notice but was refused. Miller has already talked to Premier Dalton McGuinty about back to work legislation, and is now "reconsidering his opposition to the idea of having the province declare the TTC an essential service, like police or firefighters, to take away the union's right to strike permanently."

As I suggested earlier, it sounds as though many people got caught downtown, with rumours of the strike circulating in the club district, and others arriving at locked subway stations after their night out.