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ATU Canada Congratulates New Mayor-Elect, former ATU operator, Amarjeet Sohi

EDMONTON - ATU Canada National President, John Di Nino, is congratulating new Edmonton Mayor-Elect, former ATU 569 operator and executive member, Amarjeet Sohi on his resounding victory yesterday.

Residents of Edmonton went to the polls yesterday for their municipal elections after a campaign spanning several months. After the results were counted last night, Sohi had garnered over 45% of the popular vote.

Milton Transit Drivers Vote to Join ATU Local 1572

MILTON – Drivers at Milton Transit voted Thursday, in an overwhelming 80% majority to join the ATU. The ATU was contacted by a retired ATU member who said that his coworkers were demanding representation and protection from their private contractor Pacific Western Transit. Some of the key issues mentioned were unfair sign-ups, sick days, and lack of protection for on-demand and paratransit workers.

Ford Government Leaves Out Transit Workers and Riders Once Again in Throne Speech

Yesterday, the Ford government gave its annual throne speech to outline its priorities for the coming year. Transit workers and transit riders were predictably all but left out of the speech.

ATU Canada Statement on Truth and Reconciliation Day

As we reflect on our country’s first-ever National Truth and Reconciliation Day, ATU Canada stands in solidarity with all those who have faced the horrors of residential schools or who have lost children, relatives, or friends at the hands of these terrible institutions as well all those who faced the brunt of centuries of colonization in Canada.

ATU Canada President Calls on TTC CEO to Resign Over Mishandling of Mandatory Vaccination Policies

The recent unrest at the TTC regarding CEO Leary’s confusing mandatory vaccination policies is of extreme concern to ATU Canada. This intentionally divisive approach has resulted in less than 50% of employees disclosing their vaccination status. Clearly, Rick Leary has failed the organization’s needs and has failed to gain employee confidence in his leadership. The numbers do not lie and we are calling for him to step down as Chief Executive Officer of the TTC.

ATU Canada Welcomes NDP Platform Promises on Transit Funding and Bringing in Public Intercity Bus Travel

TORONTO – John Di Nino, National President of ATU Canada and John Costa, ATU International President are encouraged by the recent announcement this morning of the New Democratic Party (NDP) platform and its several commitments to public transit. In the 115-page document, the NDP are pledging to: develop a public inter-city bus system, commit funding for zero emission vehicles with the goal of electrifying transit, improving rural transit conditions, making transit more affordable and putting in place a permanent, direct, allocation-based funding mechanism for modern public transit.

Transit Union Says Damning IPCC Report Shows Need for Transformative Change and a Green New Deal

A grave report released yesterday by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), the United Nations body for assessing the science related to climate change, stressed the limited time we have to mitigate the irrevocable effects of climate change including more investment in public transit says the Amalgamated Transit Union, the largest union representing transit workers in North America.

Transit Union Banner Action on Edmonton Mayor and Canadian Minister

EDMONTON — As Edmonton Mayor Don Iveson and Infrastructure Minister Catherine McKenna took turns re-announcing funding that already existed and touting ‘good union jobs’ on an Edmonton Transit platform, transit workers took over the stage with a banner of the faces of over 1500 transit workers in the ATU with the emblazoned words: “STOP CONTRACTING OUT OUR WORK” on a 4x12 foot banner.

Infrastructure and Track Maintenance workers at Alstom join OC Transpo union, ATU local 279 in Ottawa

OTTAWA - Approximately 35 workers who work on the Confederation Line are the newest members of Amalgamated Transit Union local 279 representing workers at OC Transpo, Paratranspo, the Royal Canadian Mint and Alstom. These workers are employees of Alstom Transport Canada and perform infrastructure maintenance and warehouse work on the Confederation line. This work includes guideway maintenance, power technicians, signalling and communications and other duties. They join their colleagues in vehicle maintenance who perform work on the LRT vehicles and are already unionized.

July 1st Should be a Day of Reflection

In recent weeks, the mass unmarked graves of Indigenous children who died at the hands of the violent residential school system that operated for over 100 years, have been found in Kamloops, Brandon, the Marieval Residential School in Saskatchewan and most recently in St Eugen's Mission School in BC's Interior. The search for these graves has been something Indigenous communities have been demanding for a very a long time but is something that most Canadians may be coming to terms with for the first time.