Appeal court upholds TTC workers' right to strike

Ontario's top court has upheld the right of Toronto Transit Commission workers to strike, a decision that comes just days before potential job action.

The Court of Appeal for Ontario today dismissed an appeal madeby the provincial government of a lower court ruling that declared a law eliminating the workers' right to strike unconstitutional.

In 2011, the Ontario government under the Liberalsenacted a law banning unionized TTC workers from striking, which government lawyers in this appeal said came after "unusually frequent strike action and immediate ad-hoc back-to-work legislation."

A Superior Court judge found last year that the law interfered with workers' collective bargaining rights, and the Appeal Court today agreed.

The decision was a split one, with two out of the three Appeal Court judges siding with the union.

The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 which represents about 12,000 operators and other front-life staff at the TTC could go on strike as early as June 7 in a current bargaining dispute and says the court decision is a historic win for working people.