TTC’s largest union will have a new leader next month, after its president failed to win re-election amid public criticism of his opposition to the transit agency’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
And while the incoming president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 has not promised a major change in the union’s position on vaccines, a TTC board member hopes the change will lead to greater cooperation between management and workers on vaccination. pandemic politics.
Carlos Santos, who has been president of Local 113 since 2019, ranked third in the regularly scheduled elections for Wednesday with just nine percent support. Marvin Alfred, who has been a member of the union’s executive board since 2016, won with almost 57 percent. About 8,000 of the nearly 13,000 eligible members cast their vote.
Board member of TTC Coun. Brad Bradford said Alfred’s victory is “a great opportunity” to “reestablish” the agency’s relationship with the union, which he said “had become increasingly challenging in recent months.”
“I don’t think we have a common understanding between us when everyone is yelling and screaming” and Alfred “has certainly signaled that he wants to be at the table, he wants to have conversations about all the big issues facing TTC,” he said. Bradford (Beaches-East York).
Local 113 has been chastised by elected officials, traffic advocates and passengers for taking a hard line against the agency’s requirement that all employees be vaccinated. The TTC says the mandate is the best way to keep its workforce and passengers safe, while the union argues that it is a violation of workers’ rights.
The TTC introduced the policy in September, and Local 113 initially told its members to refuse to disclose their vaccination status to management. The union also challenged the mandate in court and filed a complaint against it.
Tensions over the issue threatened to erupt during a November 22 incident at the main station where Santos was present. TTC CEO Rick Leary was there to meet and greet customers, but a hostile crowd chased him out of the station that appeared to include union members who insulted and reprimanded him for the vaccine policy.
In an interview, Alfred said he is concerned about the mandate and, like the outgoing president, believes that employees who choose not to receive their vaccinations should be able to continue working if they agree to undergo frequent testing.
But while Alfred was reluctant to openly criticize Santos, he suggested he would take a more conciliatory approach.
“I think we need to communicate with something more than a hostile way of relating to (management)” and we should “work towards a mutually agreed position” rather than “just get bored in a way,” he said. Under Santos, “I think there was really no collaborative way of doing business,” he said.
However, Alfred confirmed that he does not support dropping the union’s complaint against the mandate.
While the union’s approach to vaccines has come under scrutiny, it is unclear that that was the deciding factor in Santos’ defeat. Local 113 members who spoke to Star said other issues during the campaign included concerns about a lack of communication and a lack of sufficient transparency about finances from union leaders.
Santos did not respond to requests for comment.
Under TTC policy, employees who did not show proof of complete immunization by November 20 have been placed on unpaid leave and face termination as of December 31 if they do not receive their vaccinations. Under revised timelines announced this week, employees who are not fully vaccinated are not yet eligible for work, but those who show proof of having received an injection of a two-dose vaccine by December 3 will receive until December 27. January to receive the second. Shooting.
According to the TTC, around 700 employees are on leave as a result of the policy, and the labor shortage has forced it to temporarily cut back on service.
Alfred, 49, will begin his three-year term on January 1 and is believed to be the first black male to lead Local 113.
Reference-www.thestar.com