Ontario’s legislature has ordered Toronto’s 9,000 transit workers to end their suprise strike that idled the country’s largest fleet of subways, streetcars and buses. All parties supported the bill, introduced personally by Premier Dalton McGuinty, who called a rare Sunday session of the legislature to pass the back-to-work legislation.
As a result, subway trains, streetcars and buses should be rolling within hours, well before Monday’s commuter rush begins – welcome relief to the 1.5 million people who use transit weekdays.
The legislation imposes fines on individuals and the union if they don’t heed the back-to-work order.
The city was caught flat-footed when the transit workers walked out with barely any notice at midnight Friday night after rejecting a tentative contract.
McGuinty called on transit users to extend courtesy to transit workers.
