TORONTO — Unifor has warned the Toronto Transit Commission that further delays in purchasing additional streetcars from Bombardier's Thunder Bay plant will jeopardize the facility's future.
The union's Ontario director, Naureen Rizvi, made a deputation Monday to the TTC board during the commission's budget deliberations.
"If Mayor [John] Tory is serious that Toronto needs 60 more streetcars now, then the city's plans must change now," Rivzi said.
More than 500 Unifor members in Thunder Bay were recently laid off as existing orders near completion.
Rizvi said "Workers have already felt the effects of previous delays with job losses, but another delay risks making the temporary damage permanent."
Although the TTC first identified the need for another 60 cars as far back as 2013, its current plan is to order the cars in 2022.
"There is no more time to waste...Ridership on streetcar routes has increased since the original streetcar order was made more than a decade ago. Toronto's population is growing rapidly. We are currently the fastest-growing city in North America," Rizvi said.
She cautioned the TTC board that the Thunder Bay plant is at risk of being closed before 2021.
"It is the one plant that is able to meet the requirements for TTC streetcars," Rizvi said, and is the only plant that could meet a 2022 order date.
After her presentation, a board member raised the prospect of placing a partial order for additional cars in order to keep Bombardier's assembly line in operation.
However, no decision on the TTC's next steps in the procurement process appears imminent.
The commission previously determined that up to five manufacturers, including Bombardier, have the capability of supplying the 60 additional streetcars.
But a staff report cautioned that a different supplier could not deliver nearly as quickly as Bombardier, and that there would be significant inefficiencies attached to introducing a new type of vehicle into the TTC fleet.
In a statement Monday, Unifor national president Jerry Dias said "With all of its foot-dragging, the City of Toronto is playing chicken with commuters in Toronto and workers in Thunder Bay."
Thunder Bay Local 1075 president Dominic Pasqualino added "We must remember that our highly skilled members have unique expertise, and if we lose them, they are gone for good."
