TTC workers have right to go on strike, Ontario court rules

Toronto transit workers have won the right to strike after an Ontario judge ruled this week that the law that banned them from walking off the job is unconstitutional.

Toronto transit workers have won the right to strike after an Ontario judge ruled this week that the law that banned them from walking off the job is unconstitutional.

In a decision on Monday (May 8), Ontario Superior Court of Justice William Chalmers ruled that legislation that forbade TTC workers from engaging in strike action violates Charter rights. The law, the Toronto Transit Commission Labour Disputes Resolution Act, 2011, known as the TTC Act, was passed by the previous Ontario Liberal government.

"I am satisfied on the evidence before me that the complete prohibition of the right to strike has resulted in a substantial interference with the meaningful process of collective bargaining," Chalmers wrote in the ruling.