Hundreds of thousands of Toronto transit users had to scramble to find alternate ways to work Monday after the Toronto Transit Commission's 800 maintenance workers walked off the job.
There was little notice of the walkout, which idled subways, streetcars and buses when it kicked in between 4 and 5 a.m.
Doors to subway stations were locked and crowds of commuters began to build up at normally busy streetcar stops.
"At this point, there will be no TTC service this morning," the commission said in a news release early Monday. "Picket lines are preventing employees from entering the garages."
Shortly after 7 a.m., the TTC announced that the Ontario Labour Board had issued a cease-and-desist order in response to the pickets. The commission urged its employees to report for work as usual as soon as the picket lines came down.
There was no word on how soon service would be restored to the system's 700,000 daily users.
Union says its workers were locked out
Union president Bob Kinnear disputed the commission's contention that "an illegal job action" by the workers had caused the problem. He said the TTC locked the gates before morning-shift workers arrived Monday.
"We believe that we have been locked out at this point, " he said.
However, action by the union had been expected. Toronto Mayor David Miller reportedly called provincial Labour Minister Steve Peters over the weekend to consult about ways of ending it as soon as possible.
Asked how long the disruption would last, Kinnear replied: "I would assume that it would be at least for today, depending on what happens down at the labour board."
The last Toronto Transit Commission strike, in 1999, was a legal walkout. It ended after two days, with the provincial government poised to legislate the drivers back to work.
Walkout came as surprise to many
On many Toronto streets, commuters who hadn't heard about the stoppage showed up at their stops expecting their usual service Monday morning.
Taxi drivers were having a busy morning, ferrying workers to their jobs at downtown businesses.
Meanwhile, night workers coming off their shifts had no way to get home, especially if their wages weren't high enough to cover a long cab ride to a far-flung part of the city.
Toronto's temperature was expected to soar to 30 Monday, aggravated by high humidity and smog, which would make walking home an uncomfortable option for people getting off work later in the day.
However, many people were bicycling to their jobs as Ride to Work Week began, avoiding the chaos that way.
Dispute about changing hours of work
The commission's maintenance employees are objecting to changes to the work schedules of some of their colleagues.
Managers want about 100 janitors and subway track workers who now work days to switch permanently to the night shift, saying it's easier to clean stations and maintain tracks when the TTC is not in service.
Kinnear told CBC News that the decision added to the growing frustrations of TTC employees over a variety of issues.
Speaking before the walkout began, Kinnear claimed he did not tell union members to walk off the job Monday, but said he understands why they might want to.
TTC general manager Rick Ducharme said any work stoppage would violate the collective agreement that was signed last year.
He had a message for Kinnear: "Live up to the terms of the agreement we negotiated last April. If you want other things and demands, this is no way to threaten the city … There's a right way to do it — at a negotiation table."
Ducharme said the TTC could still operate without the 800 maintenance workers, but not for very long.