Transit union president resigns after showdown
ATU International claimed Kinnear tried to break free without consent from local
The embattled president of the TTC’s largest union has resigned, following a dramatic struggle over the group’s affiliation with its U.S.-based parent organization.
In an emailed statement Friday afternoon, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 announced that Bob Kinnear, who had led the organization since 2003, had stepped aside “effective immediately.”
“With this distraction behind us, we’re now focused on what matters most — representing Toronto’s hardworking transit workers,” Kevin Morton, secretary-treasurer of the local, said in the statement. “More united than ever, we’re moving forward to fight the TTC’s plans for alcohol and drug testing and to prepare for next year’s important collective bargaining.”
Kinnear did not immediately return a request for comment.
A fiery and often controversial figure, Kinnear was known for his confrontational style, which often rankled TTC officials when he showed up to make deputations at the agency’s board meetings.
Kinnear and the union’s clout has been somewhat diminished since 2011. That’s when the province declared the TTC an essential service and stripped the union of the power to strike legally, following a campaign led by then-mayor Rob Ford.
Kinnear’s resignation follows a tumultuous six weeks. In the early hours of Feb. 3, representatives from the local’s U.S.-based parent union, Amalgamated Transit Union Inter- national, abruptly locked out Kinnear and the rest of Local 113’s executives from their headquarters on Wilson Ave., removed Kinnear from his post and placed the local under a trusteeship.
ATU International, headquartered in Maryland, claimed Kinnear was attempting to disaffiliate from the U.S. organization without the consent of the local’s membership or executive.
Two days earlier, Kinnear had written to the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC) to request a process that could have led to the membership taking a vote on whether to leave the union. The local said Friday that the CLC process had been stopped.
On Feb. 7, Kinnear appeared at a press conference with Jerry Dias, president of Unifor, Canada’s largest private-sector union. Dias and Kinnear argued that ATU International had ignored the interests of the Canadian local and that the membership had the right to vote on whether to leave the parent union and join another labour group.
An Ontario Superior Court judge reinstated Kinnear on Feb. 21, finding that ATU International had “deprive(d) the membership of their duly elected leader.” The judge also placed an injunction against the trusteeship.
TTC spokesperson Brad Ross issued a statement Friday afternoon in which he said the transit agency “wishes Mr. Kinnear well in his future endeavours.”