The area surrounding Union Station is unusually quiet during morning rush hour on June 22, 2010, days before the G20 summit.Sarah Dea/The Globe and Mail
A railway workers strike that could have snared commuters at Toronto's Union Station transit hub was avoided after union representatives agreed to a deal hours before their midnight deadline.
Toronto Terminals Railway carries out construction on railway lines, including tracks used by Via Rail and Go Transit. Employees were asking for better wages and benefits, and had set a 12:01 a.m. ET deadline for negotiations.
Union leaders reached an agreement with the company at approximately 8:30 p.m., averting the strike unless members do not agree to ratify the new three-year contract.
Bob Fitzgerald, president of the Canadian Autoworkers National Council 4000, said members will vote on the contract by next Monday.
While he would not comment in detail on the agreement, Mr. Fitzgerald said it included wage increases for all three years, plus new benefits, and improvements to existing benefits.
He said the contract was "one that members will be happy with," although negotiators didn't get everything they had asked for. He said the union will recommend members ratify the proposed contract.
In June, 94 per cent of CAW local 4000 members voted for a potential strike.
Toronto Terminals Railway employees carry out repairs on rail lines as well as performing maintenance duties.
Earlier, Go Transit spokesman Robin Alam said a strike would not affect service. "Whatever construction that is happening right now would just be on hold," he said. "Operations will continue as usual." Via Rail also put out a statement saying its operations would not be affected.
But Mr. Fitzgerald said the strike definitely would have slowed transit. "There's an awful ot of construction work going around Union Station," he said, noting that TTR employees do all the flagging for trains, and without that operators would have to slow down substantially.
After emerging from negotiations, he said Tuesday morning would be "business as usual" for railway employees.