TTC union chief loses re-election bid
Marvin Alfred becomes new president of Local 113
The TTC’s largest union will have a new leader next month, after its president failed to win re-election amid public criticism of his opposition to the transit agency’s COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
And while the incoming president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 hasn’t promised a major shift in the union’s position on vaccines, one TTC board member hopes the change will lead to greater co-operation between management and workers over the pandemic policy.
Carlos Santos, who has been president of Local 113 since 2019, placed third in Wednesday’s regularly scheduled election with just nine per cent support. Marvin Alfred, who has been a union executive board member since 2016, won with almost 57 per cent. Close to 8,000 of nearly 13,000 eligible members cast a ballot.
TTC board member Coun. Brad Bradford said Alfred’s victory is “a great opportunity” to “reset” the agency’s relationship with the union, which he said “had become increasingly challenging over the past number of months.”
“I don’t think we take common understanding amongst each other when everybody’s just screaming and shouting” and Alfred “has certainly signalled that he wants to be at the table, he wants to have conversations about all the big issues facing TTC,” said Bradford (Beaches-East York).
Local 113 has been chastised by elected officials, transit advocates and riders for taking a hard line against the agency’s requirement that all employees be vaccinated. The TTC says the mandate is the best way to keep its workforce and passengers safe, while the union argues it’s a violation of workers’ rights.
The TTC introduced the policy in September, and Local 113 initially told its members to refuse to disclose their vaccination status to management. The union has also challenged the mandate in court and filed a grievance against it.
Tensions over the issue threatened to boil over during a Nov. 22 incident at Main Station at which Santos was present. TTC CEO Rick Leary was there to do a meet and greet with customers, but was hounded out of the station by a hostile crowd that appeared to include union members who swore and berated him about the vaccine policy.
In an interview, Alfred said he has concerns about the mandate, and like the outgoing president believes employees who opt not to get their shots should be allowed to keep working if they agree to frequent testing.
But while Alfred was reluctant to overtly criticize Santos, he suggested he would take a more conciliatory approach.
“I think we need to communicate with something greater than a hostile way of relating to (management)” and should “work toward getting a mutually agreed upon position” instead of “just boring through one way,” he said. Under Santos, “I think there was not really a collaborative way of doing business,” he said.
However, Alfred confirmed he doesn’t support dropping the union’s grievance against the mandate. Under the TTC’s policy, employees who didn’t show proof of full vaccination by Nov. 20 have been placed on unpaid leave, and face termination.
Alfred, 49, will begin his threeyear term on Jan. 1, and is believed to be the first Black man to lead Local 113.