Toronto's transit union told its members to return to work Monday afternoon after a labour dispute shut down the city's subways, streetcars and buses for most of the day.
Transit maintenance workers sit outside the Oakvale substation in Toronto's east end on Monday. Their employer said about 800 maintenance workers illegally walked out, while their union said they were locked out. (Robin Rowland/CBC)
PHOTO GALLERY: Toronto's transit shutdown
Officials with the city's Amalgamated Transit Union made the request just before 3 p.m. EDT.
About 800 maintenance workers walked off the job between 4 a.m. and 5 a.m. EDT, protesting proposed changes in work schedules. Then other transit workers refused to cross their picket lines, leaving an estimated 800,000 commuters scrambling to find alternative transportation.
"Picket lines are coming down in most locations," Toronto Mayor David Miller told a news conference at city hall.
"This whole action was utterly wrong," Miller said. "I never believed that they would break the law."
Labour board deemed walkout illegal
The union had been told in two rulings from the Ontario Labour Relations Board on Monday that its walkout was illegal.
"We are law-abiding citizens, we will comply with the law," Bob Kinnear, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, told reporters.
"Our members want to continue to move the people of Toronto."
Bus service resumes first
The TTC said service for the evening commute would resume, but slowly, first with buses and then with subways.
Not all routes would start rolling at the same time, the transit commission said.
"I can't be clear on when service will resume," Miller said. "Please be patient."
With the dispute over, Miller suggested the dispute had damaged people's trust in the transit workers.
Bike parking was limited on Bay Street and other streets in the heart of the city, after thousands more people than usual rode their bikes to work. (Armina Ligaya/CBC)
"You've got to respect your obligation to show up for work and they breached that today."
Earlier Monday, the TTC had also called the shutdown "an illegal job action," while the union insisted that the TTC locked its facilities before morning-shift workers arrived.
Management wanted about 100 janitors and subway-track workers who now work days to switch permanently to the night shift, saying it is easier to clean stations and maintain tracks when the TTC is not in service.
Temperatures hit 33 C, aggravating commuters
The last Toronto Transit Commission strike, in 1999, was a legal walkout. It ended after two days as the provincial government prepared to legislate the drivers back to work.
Toronto's temperature hit 33 C, with high humidity and smog adding to the aggravation of thousands of people who were forced to bike or walk to work.
Other transit systems in the Greater Toronto Area remained working on Monday, including GO Transit trains and buses running through the downtown core.
The TTC's Wheel Transit service for handicapped passengers also continued to offer limited service.