Statement by Bob Kinnear, President, ATU Local 113 on the TTC "Whistleblower Hot Line"

TORONTO, July 22, 2013 /CNW/ - Following is a statement by Bob Kinnear, President of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 on the TTC "Whistleblower Hot Line."

"During my ten years as President of Local 113, I long ago lost track of the number of times I have said that the union does not in any way condone any illegal or unsafe acts by TTC workers. Our members understand that they work in a position of public trust and any alleged violation of that trust is subject to a disciplinary process in accordance with our collective agreement.

My only concern with this new initiative is that it publicly promotes the idea that there is widespread fraud and theft on the part of TTC employees that has yet to be discovered. There is simply no evidence for this and how this is supposed to improve morale is beyond me.

What we do know is that an already bloated TTC management is bloating up even more, at the expense of better front line service. And apparently all these managers are so incompetent that they have to contract out to the private sector their main responsibility, which is the care and custody of public assets.

If TTC senior management feels that this special little program will make them look like they are doing more to bring the bad guys to justice, good luck to them. But I think it has about as much chance of success as "The Lone Ranger" had at the box office.

I only wish that the same attention was paid to those many, many TTC workers who go above and beyond the call of duty to serve the public with a shamefully-underfunded public transit system. The daily injustice against our front line members is that many TTC users blame them for the inadequate system that is the dubious legacy of bickering, small-minded politicians."

SOURCE: Amalgamated Transit Union, Local 113

Contact: Bill Reno, 416-223-7366