Transit workers stage protest over plans to contract out cleaners

TORONTO, Ont. – Dozens of transit workers outraged by the TTC’s plans to contract out its bus cleaning rallied in protest on Tuesday outside the Davisville headquarters.

“This is just the beginning of a reflection of the dissention that rank and file has against Mr. Byford,” transit workers’ union president Bob Kinnear told 680News.

The TTC said the affected workers would be relocated to other available work within the TTC. But Kinnear told the transit workers not to believe it.
 
“They wanted to lay you all off and replace you with contractors,” Kinnear told the crowd.

“There are going to be many battles within this war.”

“Are we up to the challenge?” Kinnear shouted to the cheers of transit workers.

The union threatened to launch a work-to-rule campaign over the plans to outsource.

If the TTC decides to outsource its cleaning at a meeting on Thursday, the workers will reduce the city’s transit to a crawl.

“We have families, we have kids,” one transit worker told 680News.

“We need to send our kids to colleges, we need to live,” he said.  

“All we want to do is supply good services to Toronto people.”

By contracting out 159 jobs, the TTC it would save $4.3 million.

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