While the Toronto Transit Commission has decided to go ahead with a maintenance hangar for its planned light-rail cars, the controversy surrounding Bombardier’s contract to build the machines is not over by a long shot, says a local union president.
The TTC will move ahead with its plan for a $430 million 9-hectare streetcar maintenance complex, which CAW Local 1075 president Paul Pugh called good news for 120 recent hires at the Thunder Bay Bombardier plant.
Pugh said the move is a clear indication the TTC wants streetcars. But he tempered his joy, adding that Toronto mayor Rob Ford’s publicly stated desire to axe his city’s light rail expansion system still poses a huge threat.
"(The maintenance hangar) doesn’t mean that the expansion of the light rail system is going to proceed. That is a battle we still have to undertake," Pugh said. "As much as I wish this thing were over with, we still have a long ways to go."
But Pugh said as far as he knows with those contracts already signed, Bombardier is still going ahead with its streetcar production, expected to start "before too long.” Pugh said the CAW alone expects to have 250 new jobs at the plant by spring. Bombardier hired at least five new CAW workers just this week he said.
"Until Bombardier hears otherwise, they’re going to proceed to build those vehicles," Pugh said.
Still, Pugh said the contracts and their future are a topic of discussion around the factory floor and are a concern for everyone in the city.
"It’s a concern for all of Thunder Bay," he said. "It’s very important that this plant succeeds and that these jobs go ahead
