TTC Riders hands out ‘overcrowding relief kits’ to commuters

Yonge subway line over capacity during the morning rush*

On Thursday, Jan. 18, the same day Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) was discussing the future of Line One, the transit advocacy group TTC Riders handed out “overcrowding relief kits” to passengers at King Station.

“The Yonge line is dangerously overcrowded, and riders are in desperate need of relief,” said Shelagh Pizey-Allen, executive director of TTC Riders in a statement.

“The TTC board must consider the actions for the future over TTC lines, we all need to see all the levels of governments functioning to fund construction of the relief line as soon as possible,” said Pizey-Allen in an interview with The Dialog.

Inside the kit, there was a breath mint, a transit-themed crossword puzzle and a guide on how to relieve overcrowding.

The guide urges commuters to call Mayor John Tory and Premier Kathleen Wyne, demanding to fund and build the relief line as soon as possible and included their phone numbers.

“TTC Riders is campaigning for lower fares and better services on the TTC, and we are working towards to a world-class, affordable public transit system” said Pizey-Allen.

A report called Managing Crowding on Line One by  TTC chief operating officer Mike Palmer states that “Finch to Union Station is the busiest section of any transit line on the TTC network, carrying 450,000 customer trips per day.”

The report says use of line one has grown during the last 15 years exceeding the capacity during the morning rush.

The report also recommends implementation of automatic train control at the end of 2019, which will permit trains to run closer and safer. It also suggests implementing a customer awareness campaign about emergency alarms, the work on the relief line, the purchase of new trains, and congestion fare pricing as a medium-term solution.

“The city and province need to fund better TTC service and start building the relief line as soon as possible to end the dangerous overcrowding on the Yonge line” said Pizey-Allen.

In addition to the construction of the relief line, TTC Riders wants the city to increase the subsidy for the TTC.

“The TTC is the least funded transit in North America with an average of $2.60 per ride. In 2017, the TTC received a city subsidy under $1 per ride,” said Pizey-Allen.

TTC Riders is planning a transit day of action on Jan. 30 and are calling for the creation of two-hour transfers, a low-income transit pass and better service, according to Piney-Allen.

* This story originally appeared in The Dialog Newspaper.

http://dialognews.ca/2018/01/19/ttc-riders-hands-overcrowding-relief-kits-commuters/

Arbitration adds academic freedom for faculty

New contract increases job security for partial-load faculty*

Arbitrator William Kaplan revealed a new collective agreement for Ontario College strike just a month after the province legislated striking faculty back to work.

In an award issued on Wednesday, Dec. 20, Kaplan set out the terms of a four-year contract from Oct. 1, 2017 until Sept. 30, 2021.

Ontario colleges issued a statement saying they are “very pleased” with the arbitrator’s award.

 JP Hornick, chair of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) bargaining team, said it didn’t need to get to this point. 

“With any reasonable amount of co-operation from the colleges, there would never have been a strike, students would not have had to worry about losing their semester, and faculty would never have lost five weeks’ pay,” Hornick said in a statement.

The arbitration-mediation was held from Dec. 14 to 16 between the colleges and OPSEU, imposed on faculty in November when the Ontario Legislature passed Bill 178 to end the college faculty strike.

The arbitration award includes modest wage increases of 1.75 per cent in the first year, retroactive to Oct. 1, and two per cent in each following year.

The award also contains new language on academic freedom, which was a main issue between the faculty and the college.  

“For the first time in history we have meaningful academic freedom language in our collective agreement,” said Nicole Zwiers, OPSEU bargaining team member.

Arbitrator Kaplan, defined academic freedom at the college as “the right to inquire about, investigate, pursue, teach and speak freely about academic issues without fear or impairment to position of other reprisal.”

“Faculty have always had academic freedom from a policy perspective in the institutions, all it’s done is put it in the context of the collective agreement,” said Don Sinclair, the CEO of the College Employer Council at a press conference.

Other items of note in the arbitration award are:

• Partial-load faculty will receive a full month of seniority for each calendar month where they taught 30 hours or more, double the previous formula. 
• If two partial-load faculty are entitled to teach the same course, the one with the most seniority will be offered the job.
  A provincial task force to examine faculty complement, precarious work, provincial funding of the colleges and other issues.
• Extended health plan coverage for employees for paramedical services increased by $500 to $2,000 a year. Visits to social workers and psychotherapists are now included. 
• A lump-sum payment of $900 to each full-time member of the bargaining unit, and $450 for partial-load faculty, who were actively employed when the strike started and who returned to work at the end of it.

“This might be the message for the presidents of all the colleges, you said you care, you said you want the best for everybody and I think it’s time to start showing that,” said OPSEU president Smokey Thomas.

Arbitrator William Kaplan declined to comment for this story. 

* This story originally appeared in The Dialog Newspaper.

http://dialognews.ca/2017/12/21/arbitration-adds-academic-freedom-faculty/