Saturday April 26, 04:39 PM
Canada's biggest city hit by surprise transit strike
OTTAWA (AFP) - Toronto's metro and bus workers launched a surprise strike Saturday after rejecting a tentative labor agreement, forcing residents of Canada's biggest city to drive or walk.
About 65 percent of the members of the union representing 9,000 public transit workers voted against the three-year, tentative agreement with the Toronto Transit Commission, which moves 1.5 million commuters per day.
Union chief Bob Kinnear said the strike was launched at midnight without giving a 48-hour warning, as it had last week, to keep transit workers from facing anger from commuters.
The union had warned that it would go on strike last week until it reached a last-minute agreement, which included a three-percent salary increase per year and unspecified benefits.
Toronto Mayor David Miller called on Ontario province lawmakers to quickly adopt legislation to force the transit workers to resume work.
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