ATU Canada’s National President, John Di Nino, is condemning Ontario Premier, Doug Ford’s attack on Canada’s labour unions. In an announcement made today by the provincial government, Ford said he intends to recall the legislature on Thursday to invoke the notwithstanding clause to pass legislation ruled unconstitutional by the Superior Court yesterday to restrict third-party spending laws outside of election periods. If invoked, this will be the first time any Ontario government has ever invoked the notwithstanding clause.

“As a union that represents transit workers from diverse backgrounds, I strongly and unequivocally condemn this hateful racially motivated act that has left a young child without a family.” Said National President John Di Nino. “No one should have to face such violence and hatred. An injury to one is an injury to us all.”

Today, it was announced by Greyhound that it would be cancelling it services permanently, leaving Canadians across the country without intercity bus services and more than 300 transit workers without jobs. Greyhound had previously announced earlier in 2020 that they would be suspending their services nation-wide. Along with the lack of funding from the Trudeau government for intercity transit, the final nail in the coffin was legislation from the Ontario provincial government, specifically Bill 213 that led to the total deregulation of the Motor Coach Industry.

The devastating metro crash that left many without their loved ones shows the consequences of putting profit over the lives of residents and a functioning, safe and reliable transit system and should be a warning to transit systems across Canada.

Transit workers in Airdrie voted to ratify their collective agreement yesterday with 75% support after over a year of negotiations. Airdrie transit workers joined the Amalgamated Transit Union last year after a successful organizing drive by ATU Local 987.

I would first like to thank the members of ATU Canada for putting their confidence in me for a second three year term. It has been my honour to serve you through these difficult and trying times. I am honoured to continue to be serving you once again. It is the strength and perseverance of our membership that has gotten me through this and will continue to see our union through this global pandemic. As President, I will continue to fight for the things that matter like priority access to voluntary COVID-19 vaccinations for transit workers, permanent operational funding for transit agencies, and fighting attempts at privatization of our public transit system.

ATU Canada extends its solidarity and support with the over 1,100 dockworkers at the Port of Montreal who are scheduled to go on strike this morning. Their local union, CUPE Local 375, gave their 72-hour strike notice to their employer, the Maritime Employers Association (MEA) last week after the employer opted to lengthen their work shifts by almost two hours from five hours and twenty minutes to seven hours without negotiation or notice. In addition to this, dockworkers have been without an employment contract since 2018. On Sunday morning, the Minister of Labour, Filomena Tassi announced that the federal government would attempt to force dockworkers back to work through federal legislation saying that all options had been exhausted.

ATU Canada is holding a press conference this Thursday to announce escalated action amidst continued government silence over prioritization of transit workers for voluntary vaccinations and a growing number of outbreaks of COVID-19 at transit agencies. Since as early as last year, ATU Canada has been demanding that the Ontario provincial government and governments across the country prioritize transit workers but have been met with little to no response.

ATU Canada National President, John Di Nino expressed his disappointment and frustration with the most recent federal budget that he says missed an important and historic opportunity to save public transit agencies currently in crisis across the country. Ever since the beginning of the pandemic, transit agencies have faced huge losses in revenue due to a drop in ridership.