Article
Interfering with TTC management is a slippery slope, says former GM
Last updated Jun 6 2006 02:56 PM EDT
CBC News
The man who preceded Rick Ducharme as chief general manager of the Toronto Transit Commission said Wednesday that allowing politicians to get involved in dealings with transit unions is a slippery slope that can only lead to economic trouble.
David Gunn was commenting on the sudden resignation of Ducharme, who in a letter to employees Tuesday cited "political interference" by "some members of the commission" as the main reason for his exit.
Ducharme had been in a months-long battle with the transit union, a fight that led to a half-day wildcat strike on May 29 that shut down the system.
A week later, another threatened strike was averted when TTC chairman Howard Moscoe became personally involved in negotiations, bypassing Ducharme.
Gunn says that's where the line was crossed.
"This has happened at other transit systems and it is extremely dangerous when the commission and the politicians deal directly with the union," Gunn said on CBC Radio's Metro Morning. "The commission should issue orders to Rick Ducharme and leave it to him to carry it out."
If that doesn't happen, the union will realize it can bypass TTC management whenever it doesn't like what it hears, and go and get a better deal from city hall. And that can lead to some expensive contracts, Dunn said.
'They have blinked'
In effect, going around Ducharme showed the union that the city was ready to cave in, he said, adding that not showing toughness in dealing with a union willing to break the law with wildcat strikes is a major mistake.
"Every time something comes up where somebody is disgruntled, they will threaten an illegal strike," said Gunn, who prior to taking over the TTC in the 1990s ran the New York transit system and Amtrak. "Once you blink in these situations you are down a very slippery slope. And they have blinked, I guess."
Gunn said Mayor David Miller's initial response to the situation was the correct one.
"When he first spoke on the issue he was right that the quid pro quo for the good agreements that the TTC work force has is that they abide by the rules. And the rules say you have a grievance procedure and you don't inconvenience a million riders without any warning. It's outrageous and you should pay for it."
Moscoe spoke with union boss
Moscoe admitted Wednesday in an interview with CBC News Online that he spoke directly with Bob Kinnear, the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 head who has been critical of Ducharme, in order to avoid a June 5 walkout.
But he was quick to defend himself for doing so.
"The most persistent question I've been asked by media over the past week and a half is 'Have you talked to Mr. Kinnear, and if not, why not?'," Moscoe said.
"Labour relations at the TTC have traditionally been done by management," he admitted, but "in the face of the fact that we had an illegal strike, and were about to take another illegal strike, and because I am accountable to the public, it was necessary for me to intervene to prevent that second strike from happening."
Moscoe said if that was what Mr. Ducharme classifies as interference "then he misunderstands his role and mine."
He added "it's no secret that labour relations at the TTC are at an all-time low, and I have a responsibility to the public to make sure those buses roll out on a Monday morning."
The councillor would not comment on whether he thought Ducharme was responsible for the bad relations.
On the union's part, Kinnear wasn't upset by Ducharme's sudden exit.
"I doubt very much the commissioners will allow our concerns to go unresponded to for the length of time they have over the past couple of months," said Kinnear, who led the wildcat walkout ostensibly to protest the movement of two-dozen cleaners from the day to the night shift.
Search for a new chief
Moscoe said the city has had "a string of general manager's who are excellent transit managers, but less adept at managing human relations."
As such, when looking for a new transit boss, he said "I want a chief GM who has the competency to run the system well, and Mr. Ducharme has had that competency, and I want a chief GM who cares about customer service and public relations."