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You are on the [cover page] of folder [Strike Media In July]posted on July 15, 2009
Family blames city workers' strike for death
Say ambulance took too long to respond
By: Vanessa Lu
Published: Jul 14, 2009
Source: The StarJim Hearst's loved ones blame the city workers' strike for his death by an apparent heart attack, saying an ambulance did not come to his aid for at least 30 minutes despite three 911 calls.
The city says ambulance response times for high-priority urgent calls have not been affected by the walkout, even though under an essential services agreement the service is running at 75 per cent staffing.
posted on July 15, 2009
City strike: A deal is there - if both sides move now
By: Royson James
Published: Jul 14, 2009
Source: The StarWe are at the most dangerous period of the city workers' strike. A deal is there for the making, and should be in place within days, not weeks. But to miss the opportunity to settle now is to risk spiralling toward weeks of bitterness and strife.
Driving the agenda is Mayor David Miller's decision to go public with the city's amended offer last Friday. It was the best available strategy to end the strike – even if it was late, and even if the strike is unwarranted.
posted on July 15, 2009
Only a fair contract will settle the strike
By: John Cartwright
Published: Jul 14, 2009
Source: The StarPresident of the Toronto and York Region Labour Council The strike by City of Toronto employees is truly regrettable, and truly avoidable. When CUPE locals 79 and 416 entered collective bargaining early this year, nobody could imagine that their members would be walking picket lines by summer.
Taking strike action is not something done lightly. But negotiations dragged on for six months with no progress. By the weekend of the strike date, there were still dozens of concession demands tabled by management, as well as the assertion that front-line CUPE members should accept the wage freeze imposed on supervisors and senior bureaucrats.
Toronto strike contract offer vote could be risky: expert
Published: July 14, 2009
Source: CBC NewsPutting Toronto's latest contract offer directly to striking union members could be a dangerous step, says a labour expert.
At least one Toronto city councillor supports the idea, but York University professor David Doorey says provincial law is very clear — the City of Toronto would have only one chance to put its proposal to a vote. If it's turned down, it could mean a much longer strike.
"Sometimes when an employer goes around the union and puts its vote directly to the workers, it can cause the union and the workers to actually become more entrenched in their position. So there's always a risk in that option. But it is an option the government might consider at some point," said Doorey.
posted on July 16, 2009
Cracks in union resolve as strike nears Week 4
520 workers decide to cross picket lines as others refuse to endorse `stupid' dump site wait times
By: Nick Aveling
Published: Jul 12, 2009
Source: The StarCracks are beginning to appear in the solidarity of striking civic workers, even as the union insists "a fairly big gap" in bargaining positions is keeping the two sides apart.
As Toronto enters Day 21 of a strike that has stopped garbage collection, curbed municipal services and shut down scores of daycare centres, more than 520 striking city employees have decided to cross their own picket lines and go back to work, city officials say.
posted on July 15, 2009
City walkout: Day 23
Union awaits reply to counteroffer
By: John Spears
Published: Jul 14, 2009
Source: The StarMayor David Miller says he sees "a little bit of light" in efforts to end the three-week old municipal workers' strike.
Ann Dembinski, who leads the city's inside workers, says her union local has made a proposal that "could settle this strike."
And officials from the outside workers' local say they're too busy bargaining to talk.
Does that add up to progress? Perhaps, but there was still some angry rhetoric to dampen the optimism.
"There's been some movement at the table on the weekend," Miller told reporters yesterday. "I think the offer that we went public with on Friday .. is fair and reasonable and should produce a settlement.
posted on July 16, 2009
Toronto on strike: The city's unsung civic heroes
By: Barry Hertz
Published: Jul 14, 2009
Source: National PostYvonne de Wit, the manager at Toronto Public Health who designed the city’s A La Cart program for multi-ethnic street food, has been working nights at the Seaton House men’s hostel, cleaning feces and breaking up fights.
Uli Watkiss, the city clerk, is working in the mail room in the basement of City Hall. “I’m fine,” she said. “A lot better than some of the other people.”
And at the city’s water filtration plants, management staff have stayed in the locked facilities day and night since the strike began, with other staff bringing them in food.
posted on July 15, 2009
Miller sees a 'bit of light' in strike talks
But CUPE Local 79 president gives downbeat assessment of talks
By: Jennifer Lewington
Published: Jul. 13, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailFor Toronto residents weary of a four-week-old strike by 24,000 city workers, Toronto Mayor David Miller says he sees “a little bit of light” in the grinding march toward a settlement.
He cites “meaningful movement” over the weekend – the first in six months in his view – in bargaining with Locals 79 and 416 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees.
“There needs to be a sense of urgency and I was seeking that a little more over the weekend,” he told reporters, but declined to speculate on the timing of a possible deal.
posted on July 16, 2009
Toronto on strike: No daycare, camps or pools, but the homeless are happy
By: Rob Roberts
Published: Jul 13, 2009
Source: National PostPools are shut, 52,000 children have had their swimming lessons and summer camps cancelled, and basketball courts have become temporary dumps. But at least one group is happy and well looked-after: the city’s homeless.
“We love it now,” said Chris Dunkan, 25, who is staying at Seaton House, a shelter for 600 men on George Street in downtown Toronto. “They don’t cook right now so they give us out food vouchers. Everything else is basically the same. We get clean towels and sheets. The laundry gets done.”
With the city’s 57 daycare centres locked and restaurant inspections, for example, suspended during a strike by unionized staff, the City of Toronto has redeployed dozens of managers from Public Health and Children’s Services to work in the nine homeless shelters that the city owns. But not, in most cases, to cook.
posted on July 15, 2009
Toronto on strike: Union rejects city's latest offer
By: Allison Hanes
Published: Jul 10, 2009
Source: National PostIn a bid to bring an "immediate" end to a 20-day strike, Mayor David Miller went over the heads of union leaders and appealed directly to picketing Toronto workers yesterday, publicly unveiling the city's settlement offer.
After months of refusing to "bargain in public," Mr. Miller revealed the city's hand: wage hikes of 1%, 1%, 2% and 3% over the next four years, as well as a payout of banked sick time and the replacement of the controversial scheme with a sick leave plan.
The offer was rejected by union leaders, who said they intended to table a counter-offer.
posted on July 15, 2009
Miller releases city's contract offer
Details of a proposed 7.2 per cent wage increase over four years released Friday in high-stakes move to end 19-day strike by Toronto workers
By: Jennifer Lewington and Brodie Fenlon
Published: Jul. 10, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailIn a high-stakes move to end a 19-day strike by city workers, Toronto Mayor David Miller has released key details of a proposed contract offer.
The offer includes a proposed wage increase of 7.2 per cent compounded over four years: 1 per cent in 2009, 1 per cent in 2010, 2 per cent in 2011 and 3 per cent in 2012.
“Enough is enough,” said Mr. Miller. “It’s time to say yes to a deal.”
posted on July 15, 2009
City union vows to stand its ground
By: Vanessa Lu and John Spears
Published: Jul 09, 2009
Source: The StarThe union representing the city's 6,200 striking outside workers has made it clear that a proposed pay freeze this year and 1 per cent hike next year won't fly, according to an email message to city councillors obtained by the Star.
"Local 416 is not prepared to accept a compensation scheme with zero in the first year and 1 per cent in the second," president Mark Ferguson said in the email, which was sent just hours before a closed-door session of the employee and labour relations committee yesterday.
posted on July 16, 2009
Toronto on strike: City would rather confront residents than unionists
By: Rob Roberts
Published: Jul 9, 2009
Source: National PostToday, a perfect sunny summer day with a light wind, people in Trinity-Bellwoods Park skipped rope, painted landscapes, rode bikes, jogged, sunbathed, ate lunch, played tennis, walked their dogs and pushed baby strollers. This may not last.
With some of Toronto’s 21 temporary waste drop-off sites nearing capacity, this park is among 13 topping the city’s list for the next temporary dumps.
Christie Pits (above) now has a hockey rink full of over 100 tons of rotting trash that the city plans to leave for as long as its workers are on strike. Kevin Sack, a city spokesman, told our paper the city will not confront the pickets and remove the Christie Pits trash.
posted on July 16, 2009
Toronto on strike: A strengthening city, a weakening union
Published: Jul 08, 2009
Source: National PostCity Hall and 30,000 striking city workers are playing a high-stakes game of chicken. Who is going to crack first?
So far, 18 days in to the strike, Mayor David Miller seems to be in a relatively good position, with most councillors, on the left and the right, appearing to support his “fair contract that the city can afford” stance.
The strikers, meanwhile, are getting by on $200 a week strike pay, that is, $10 an hour for a maximum of 20 hours a week in picket line duty. Today, the resolve among a few of the strikers guarding the Café on the Square entrance to City Hall appeared to be wavering a bit.
“I got my strike paycheque in the mail yesterday,” said Raymond Lee, a parks worker at Toronto Island who has a seasonal job, May to October, and therefore is not entitled to any sick pay, even when he is working. “I have to pay my rent.” He did not seem too sure how he was going to do that.
The striker next to him, a 27-year-old man who just started in the city planning office, added that, “There is definitely a pressure from the workers to go back to work, because nobody wants to be on strike.” He also has less sympathy for the main union position in the strike, which is to protect the 18 sick days a year, which workers can bank and cash out for a maximum six-month windfall when they retire. “I’m a new hire and I don’t get the 18 sick days with pay,” he said.
posted on July 15, 2009
DOWNTOWN: Dump closure small consolation for residents
By: Justin Skinner
Published: Jul 8, 2009
Source: insidetoronto.comChristie Pits is no longer accepting garbage, but local residents are rankled that the trash piled up in the park throughout the early days of the city workers' strike remains.
Residents in the area have opposed the dump site since it was first proposed roughly two weeks ago. Many staged protests as the Alex Duff ice rink filled up with trash and the stench of garbage became less and less tolerable, with some local residents even joining picketing CUPE workers in blocking a pesticide company from spraying the garbage with chemicals to prevent pest problems.
The dump stopped accepting new garbage on Sunday, July 5 and pesticide spraying began shortly thereafter, following an injunction by a Superior Court Judge stating the park was not to be blockaded.
posted on July 15, 2009
Dump closing leaves a bad taste
Christie Pits residents must still live with stink
By: Nick Kyonka
Published: Jul 06, 2009
Source: The StarAfter two weeks of protests and legal challenges, Christie Pits residents finally saw the disputed temporary dump site in their park closed, yet it was hardly the sweet smell of victory that drifted through the neighbourhood last night.
Instead, the stench of overripe refuse could be smelled as far away as Harbord St. as the last trash was accepted at 7 p.m. It was the final day that the near-capacity site was open for dumping.
"My first reaction (to the smell) is a sort of gag reflex," said Monica Gupta, who chairs Friends of Christie Pits Park, a local residents association that has opposed the dump site since the city workers strike began on June 22.
posted on July 15, 2009
Moss Park residents learn to live with trash
Although not happy about mounting garbage, it 'has to go somewhere'
By: Jesse McLean
Published: Jul 06, 2009
Source: The StarJoachim Kun has barely noticed the growing mounds of garbage in the middle of Moss Park.
The 62-year-old drifter has been sleeping in the park, on the northwest corner of Queen and Sherbourne Sts., since the weather got warm, and has watched black trash bags slowly fill the nearby basketball courts. "I really don't notice the smell," said Kun as he lay in the sun, a stone's throw from the temporary dump site.
"If it gets worse, I'll go to the beach. But it's okay right now."
In stark contrast to the Christie Pits site, which stopped accepting new trash yesterday after the city said it had reached capacity – and after two weeks of protests by local residents – many Moss Park-area residents have quietly accepted the influx of trash in their green space.
posted on July 15, 2009
The rats come out to play
Rodents livin' in clover as civic strike brings meadow-like quality to parks and a feast of trash
By: Leslie Scrivener
Published: Jul 06, 2009
Source: The StarAlong the waterfront parkland there's a new sweetness in the air – an unpredictable bonus in the civic workers' strike. White clover is growing abundantly, its milky coloured flowers bringing perfume and a rough beauty to wide swaths of green space. City parks are looking less manicured and more like meadows. Nature is having its way with us. And this part, we like.
posted on July 06, 2009
One striking worker. One angry resident. Let's talk
SARAH DEA/TORONTO STAR PHOTOS
BEFORE (top): Picketer Susan Rose debates with resident
Darlene Pellman.
AFTER (bottom): City worker Susan Rose and Beach resident
Darlene Pellman\\ say they now have a better understanding
of each other's situation — as aggrieved worker and furious
resident — during the strike.Two women on opposite sides of the walkout have a face-to-face. The result: an understanding
"I feel, Susan, that this is a little bit of holding the city hostage" - Darlene Pellman, 58, in conversation with striking worker Susan RoseBy: Mary Ormsby
Published: Jul 05, 2009
Source: The StarTheir common ground is their common ground.
A striking city employee picketing at a temporary east-end dump site and a resident who can see and smell stewing garbage mounds from her sidewalk have each walked their dogs on the Ted Reeve Arena fields. They've wandered the same city streets, poked around Kingston Rd.'s eclectic storefronts, walked barefoot on the beach and watched new construction erode the old-Toronto charm of the neighbourhood.
posted on July 05, 2009
Judge says: Spray!
People walk past garbage next to an overflowing bin
on Spadina Ave. at Dundas St. yesterday.Striking workers ordered to allow pesticide spraying at Christie Pits temporary dump
By: IAN ROBERTSON
Published: 5th July 2009
Source: Toronto SunA Toronto judge last night ordered striking city workers to allow pesticide spraying at the controversial Christie Pits Park temporary garbage collection site.
After 6 1/2 hours of testimony plus submissions by city and Toronto civic employees union lawyers, Madame Justice Alison Harvison-Young granted an injunction against blocking entry until 2 p.m. Wednesday.
An injunction during a strike is rare, court was told.
But due to "unlawful obstruction," it was sought as a "public health issue," city lawyer Michael Kennedy said.
posted on July 06, 2009
Picketers cannot block pest control, judge rules
SARAH DEA/TORONTO STAR
Workers dump garbage at Christie Pits.Injunction will remain in effect till Wednesday
By: Noor Javed
Published: Jul 05, 2009
Source: The StarThe City of Toronto has been given a four-day window to spray pesticide on the growing piles of garbage at the Christie Pits temporary dumpsite after city lawyers went to court yesterday to obtain an injunction.
After listening to hours of arguments from city and union lawyers in the Ontario Superior Court yesterday, Justice Alison Harvison-Young granted the injunction.
posted on July 06, 2009
Right to banked sick days a waning trend in Ontario
Striking workers face 'tough' battle in effort to keep benefit that's been mostly faded out in last 20 years
By: Sandro Contenta
Published: Jul 05, 2009
Source: The StarStriking Toronto workers are trying to buck a two-decades-old trend that has seen many public sector employees lose the right to cash banked sick days.
"It is tough to keep," says Don Ford, spokesperson for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, noting that almost all of the 130,000 provincial workers in his union lost the benefit during the last 20 years.
Ontario high school and elementary teachers have for years been fighting board attempts to wipe out a version of the plan. A majority of them have managed to hang on to it.
posted on July 06, 2009
The walkout is all about fairness
Re: Civic workers' strike
LETTER TO THE EDITORBy: Randi Cairns
Published: Jul 05, 2009
Source: The StarThere is very little being said about who comprises CUPE 79.
There has been almost no mention about the employees of public health.
Our nurses support programs that help pregnant women from vulnerable populations achieve the same health level as the average Canadian, despite their risk factors.
Our staff lead efforts to prevent cancer, heart disease and diabetes in the city's population. Our inspectors promote food skills to minimize food-borne illness in our population.
posted on July 06, 2009
When can I expect my refund?
Re: Strike pay, July 3
LETTER TO THE EDITORBy: Joe LaFortune, Toronto
Published: Jul 05, 2009
Source: The StarWhen I visit the grocery store and purchase a loaf of bread, I receive the entire loaf, not half the loaf at the cost of a full one.
If I buy a defective product, I can receive a refund or seek restitution in court.
Yet, when the city goes on strike, I am deprived of services I paid for and am offered no refund or compensation. I paid my taxes and expect the services I paid for.
The folks in Windsor will be receiving a refund for services not rendered when their strike is finally over, and considering that the City of Toronto is saving $28 million a week during our strike, I will be expecting a reasonable and adequate refund promptly from them when ours is over.
Joe LaFortune, Toronto
posted on July 05, 2009
BIAs step in to keep things clean
By: DON PEAT
Published: 5th July 2009
Source: Toronto SunLocal BIAs are chipping in to help their neighbourhoods during the ongoing civic workers strike.
"We're doing our best to cope with the strike," Chinatown BIA chairman Stephen Chan told the Sun yesterday.
The BIA has brought in a bin to collect businesses' organic garbage, he said.
Volunteers are also patrolling the streets on weekends picking up garbage. "Just to tidy up the place," Chan said.
posted on July 05, 2009
Cottage country can handle T.O. trash
By: DON PEAT
Published: 5th July 2009
Source: Toronto SunIf Toronto cottagers are sneaking their city trash into cottage country, politicos north of the Big Smoke say they're ready for it.
City of Kawartha Lakes Mayor Ric McGee said he hasn't seen any surge in Toronto trash from the 30,000 people that call his municipality northeast of Toronto home-sweet-part-time/weekend-home.
"The residents of Kawartha Lakes (both full-time and part-time) are entitled to two bags of garbage (a week)," McGee said.
posted on July 05, 2009
Down in the dumps
The stench, the garbage, the bugs -- and soon pesticides -- have park lovers crying foul
By: MICHELE MANDEL AND DON PEAT
Published: 5th July 2009
Source: Toronto SunIt's the pits alright.
As Toronto residents lined up to drop off their trash on the second-last day the Christie Pits dump was in operation, many people trying to enjoy the park were left steaming hotter than their new neighbourhood trash pile.
The gagging stench rising from the dump was too much for Maria Silva and her son Joseph yesterday, so they left the park and headed back home.
"It's disgusting," the mom said, as her disappointed seven-year-old pulled on her hand. "Doing something like this in the summer, it's not fair.
posted on July 05, 2009
Hauling trash for a buck could cost you
By: ANTONELLA ARTUSO
Published: 5th July 2009
Source: Toronto SunPeople looking to make a quick buck hauling their neighbour's trash away are running afoul of the law.
Anyone charging a fee to remove garbage requires a certificate of approval issued by the ministry of the environment, spokesman Kate Jordan said.
There's no set fine for hauling waste without proper approval, as it varies according to the amount of garbage, where it was dumped and if it caused any "adverse effects," Jordan said.
posted on July 05, 2009
Critics rip poison plan
By: DON PEAT
Published: 5th July 2009
Source: Toronto SunWhat's up top doc?
That's what a group of pro-environment doctors is asking the city's medical officer of health after crews were given the green light to spray chemicals on garbage and drop rat poison to control pests around Toronto's growing trash piles during the civic workers' strike.
Gideon Forman, executive director of the Canadian Association of Physicians for the Environment, says while he has huge respect for Dr. David McKeown, he disagrees with the use of pesticides he's presiding over.
posted on July 06, 2009
Waves of staff walk across picket lines
Strike participation still strong, union says, after 248 apply to go back to work
By: Jennifer Lewington
Published: Jul. 04, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailFrom Wednesday's Globe and Mail Last updated on Saturday, 04:05AM EDT The number of striking Toronto civic workers who want to return to work has almost doubled in the past week, with no quick end in sight to the 10-day-old labour dispute.
As of Tuesday, 248 unionized employees had “applied to cross the picket line,” said city spokeswoman Patricia Trott, compared to about 130 who asked last week.
posted on July 06, 2009
Pits closed, but others to open
Top doc orders spraying on city's most controversial garbage site to control 'active insect infestation'
By: DON PEAT
Published: 4th July 2009
Source: Toronto SunThe dump will be closed but you can keep the garbage for now.
That's the message already frustrated Christie Pits residents are fuming over after another day of dumping in their neighbourhood park.
City of Toronto trash guru Geoff Rathbone announced yesterday that the city's most controversial temporary dump site will be closed tomorrow -- but the garbage will stay, along with as-needed pesticide spraying, until the end of the now 13-day-old civic workers strike.
posted on July 06, 2009
Toronto mayor risks public’s health in city workers strike
By: WSWS reporting team
Published: 4 July 2009
Source: WSWS.orgAngry residents of the working-class neighbourhood of Christie Pits in west-central Toronto filed an official complaint with the Ontario Ministry of the Environment Thursday charging that the city administration is violating its own safety regulations in its campaign against striking municipal workers.
Egged on by the corporate media, which wants the city to impose sweeping contract concessions on the strikers, the city has transformed parts of 19 city parks, including Christie Pits, into garbage dumps for local residents to dispose of their household trash.
posted on July 06, 2009
City granted injunction to spray Christie Pits
By: DON PEAT and IAN ROBERTSON
Published: 4th July 2009
Source: Toronto SunA Toronto judge has ordered CUPE strikers not to block the city from spraying pesticide on the Christie Pits garbage pile.
After hearing several hours of legal arguments by lawyers from the city and the union, Madame Justice Harvison-Young granted an injunction against the picketers blocking access to the site for the city's contract pest control company.
The four-day order expires Wednesday and was described as an "extraordinary measure" during a labour dispute.
posted on July 06, 2009
Christie Pits to close but trash stays put
City won't say whether public outcry prompted shutdown as it opens two new dumpsites
By: Donovan Vincent
Published: Jul 04, 2009
Source: The StarWith two temporary garbage dumps nearly full just 13 days into the civic workers' strike, the city is closing both and opening two new ones.
The Christie Pits site, the scene of ongoing protests from neighbours opposed to part of their park being turned into a garbage dump, will close to additional trash at 7 p.m. tomorrow, city officials said.
The York Mills Arena site at York Mills Rd. and Bayview Ave. was closed last night.
Garbage will remain at both sites, however.
posted on July 06, 2009
First, a ticket ... then, a very long wait
DAVID COOPER/TORONTO STAR
Motorists had to wait more than an hour to contest their
traffic tickets at the only facility still dealing with such
complaints since the city strike began. (July 3, 2009)By: Iain Marlow
Published: Jul 04, 2009
Source: The StarClifford Pendin had no idea the lineup would be so long. All he wanted was to argue a fine from the traffic ticket mailed to him after his son ran a red light.
But the civic workers' strike has closed all facilities save this one, on Markham Rd. in Scarborough, just north of Highway 401, forcing frustrated drivers across the city to descend on this building. Yesterday, a line of about 70 people stretched from the door to the sidewalk, about 30 metres away.
posted on July 06, 2009
A drop-off site that offers service with a smile
Published: Jul 04, 2009
Source: The StarCall it valet service. Even though pickets and some neighbourhood groups have been slowing residents from dropping off their garbage at the temporary dump sites, that's not the case at Wishing Well Park in Scarborough.
Motorists simply drive along a quiet stretch of Pharmacy Ave. just south of Sheppard Ave. – where a short line of cars forms. A handful of strikers is on one side handing out flyers, while management and non-union staff wait at the entrance.
Drivers are told to pop their trunks, and the garbage is quickly unloaded by city officials wearing yellow T-shirts who tout Toronto's customer service.
rebates for residents?
Mayor David Miller says the city will look at giving residents rebates for lost services during the strike, but he isn't offering details just yet. "We don't know what that'll look like, but we'll certainly consider it," he said. "I'm like everyone else: When you pay fees for your kids to use a program that's not provided, you expect some consideration."
He said, however, that the strike has to end before specifics are worked out.
posted on July 06, 2009
Not too late to roll back councillors' pay raise
By: Royson James
Published: Jul 04, 2009
Source: The StarTwo weeks down and maybe many more to go in Toronto's municipal workers strike. Common sense tells you there has to be movement in the next seven to 10 days or we might descend into a protracted strike. See Windsor, nearing three months on strike, for details.
Management doesn't seem to have any ideas to jump-start the talks that stalled after six months of futile negotiations. Mayor David Miller sent a direct message to the striking workers yesterday, via the daily media briefing: "Enough is enough," he said, a hollow warning/desperate cry that was nearly drowned out by picketers bellowing just outside the briefing hall at Metro Hall.
Didn't sound or look like an olive branch to most observers.
posted on July 05, 2009
Who's keeping Toronto going?
Non-unionized workers endure 16-hour shifts, family stress in 'prison-like' environment to keep city going
By: Brodie Fenlon
Published: Jul. 04, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailSusan hasn't seen her husband since the strike by Toronto's unionized municipal workers forced him and dozens of other managers to hunker down at the city's water supply and sewage-treatment plants, where they remain inside, 24 hours a day.
They eat there, sleep on cots, do their own laundry and pull 16-hour shifts to make sure the city's toilets keep flushing and taps keep flowing. Videos, music and phone calls help break up the downtime in the prison-like environment, said Susan, who didn't want her real name used to protect her husband's job.
posted on July 05, 2009
City striker charged after denting resident's car
By: Brodie Fenlon
Published: Jul. 04, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailA striking city worker has been charged with mischief after a resident's car was kicked during a dispute at a temporary garbage drop-off at North Toronto Memorial Arena.
The incident happened at 10 a.m. yesterday after a vehicle jumped the line, said Toronto Constable Wendy Drummond. Louis Roach, 47, of Thornhill, is charged with mischief under $500.
posted on July 05, 2009
Right to strike, recycling and illegal dumping
By: BRODIE FENLON, bfenlon@globeandmail.com
Published: Jul. 04, 2009
Source: Globe and MailThe municipal workers strike is entering its 12th day, and residents' questions are piling up as fast as the trash at Christie Pits park. In an occasional series beginning today, City Hall reporter Brodie Fenlon will explain everything you need to know about the strike. Do strikers have a legal right to delay or prevent access to picketed sites? What are the police doing about it?
Workers have a right to picket, but delays and blocked access are a grey area. Toronto Police Constable Wendy Drummond said police must balance the strict enforcement of the law with the rights of free speech and public safety, as they did when Tamils shut down a local highway during a recent protest. Discretion and de-escalation have been the force's guiding principles, she said.
posted on July 05, 2009
City granted injunction to spray Christie Pits
By: DON PEAT and IAN ROBERTSON
Published: 4th July 2009
Source: Toronto SunA Toronto judge has ordered CUPE strikers not to block the city from spraying pesticide on the Christie Pits garbage pile.
After hearing several hours of legal arguments by lawyers from the city and the union, Madame Justice Harvison-Young granted an injunction against the picketers blocking access to the site for the city's contract pest control company.
The four-day order expires Wednesday and was described as an "extraordinary measure" during a labour dispute.
posted on July 05, 2009
Two new temporary garbage drop-off sites are opened--and two are closed
Published: July 04, 2009
Source: National PostThe city of Toronto opened two new temporary garbage drop-off sites yesterday, as the indoor and outdoor municipal workers' strike entered its 12th day. The new sites are at Centennial Arena Community Centre at 1967 Ellesmere Rd. and at Sunnybrook Park at 1132 Leslie St.
posted on July 05, 2009
Miller changes tone on strike
Praises residents
By: Allison Hanes
Published: July 04, 2009
Source: National PostMayor David Miller adopted an entirely new tone yesterday, urging an end to an "unnecessary" strike by unionized civic workers while praising Toronto residents for their "remarkable" patience in the face of an extended work stoppage.
On Day 12 of the labour disruption, Mr. Miller sounded as if he had finally struck the right note as leader of a strike-afflicted city, after being criticized earlier for showing a lack of empathy for Torontonians and an amount of sympathy for the picketing workers.
"I want to say to the unions and to the people they represent: Enough is enough. We've made progress at the bargaining table this week and now is the time to end this strike," the Mayor said at an afternoon news conference. "I don't believe any of this was necessary and it's certainly time for it to end."
posted on July 05, 2009
Corso Italia, Taste of Lawrence multicultural festivals carry on despite strike
Published: July 04, 2009
Source: National PostDespite the civic strike, two street festivals will go ahead this weekend. The Corso Italia Toronto Fiesta will shut St. Clair Avenue West between Dufferin and Landsdowne through midnight tonight, while the Taste of Lawrence will shut Lawrence Avenue East, from Pharmacy Avenue to Warden Avenue, through tomorrow night. "I believe in both of those cases we will be providing limited cleanup support. Of course, without our staff it may not be the traditional support we are providing," Geoff Rathbone, Toronto's general manager of solid waste, said yesterday.
posted on July 05, 2009
Mississauga seeks wage rollback
City unions have mixed reaction to mayor's request to accept lower salary increase than contract allows
By: Sandro Contenta
Published: Jul 04, 2009
Source: The StarThe City of Mississauga has asked unionized employees to roll back a 3 per cent annual wage increase guaranteed in their contracts, city manager Janice Baker says.
"We simply met with the unions and said, `In light of the economic downturn, would you consider deferring some of that economic increase,'" she said yesterday.
Mississauga council has also asked the Ontario government to intervene. Last week, it passed a resolution asking Premier Dalton McGuinty to freeze the wages and benefits of all public sector employees in the province for one year.
posted on July 05, 2009
The strike explainer
City Hall reporter Brodie Fenlon answers your questions about the right to strike, recycling and illegal dumping
By: Brodie Fenlon
Published: Jul. 04, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailThe municipal workers strike continues, and residents' questions are piling up as fast as the trash at Christie Pits park. In an occasional series, City Hall reporter Brodie Fenlon will explain everything you need to know about the strike. Got a question? E-mail him at bfenlon@globeandmail.com.
Plus: Join us online Monday when Brodie Fenlon takes your strike-related questions, starting at noon ET.
What is this pesticide that the city is spraying on the garbage bags piled up in our parks? What does it do, exactly? Will these sites need to be cleaned up to remove toxic chemicals ?
posted on July 05, 2009
Won't ask for back-to-work legislation, Miller states
Progress made on non-monetary issues, mayor says
By: Brodie Fenlon
Published: Jul. 04, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailMayor David Miller has dealt a blow to the possibility of a legislated end to Toronto's 13-day-old municipal workers' strike, leaving only two options for a city stuck without garbage collection, pools or city-run childcare: a quick, negotiated settlement or a long, smelly summer.
“We're not going to ask for back-to-work legislation,” the mayor told reporters Friday, the most explicit he's been to date on the subject.
“This strike should be settled, it can be settled, and it will be settled if people recognize the city's financial situation and agree to an affordable contract.”
posted on July 05, 2009
A lucky strike
Don't tell the mainlanders. With Centreville closed and tourists stuck on the shore, life on the Toronto Islands has never been better. Peter Cheney sneaks across the lake to uncover the best-kept secret of the municipal labour dispute
By: Peter Cheney
Published: Jul. 04, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailIn your fantasies, paradise is, well, a paradise. The air is filled with the scent of herbs and the trill of songbirds as you sit in your garden, contemplating a far-off world of traffic jams and daily struggle. In other words, you are in Elizabeth Amer's yard on Ward's Island, a small green cosmos where the city of Toronto is in full view, yet somehow distant.
And this week, thanks to the city strike that has shut down the ferries, it really has been a paradise.
posted on July 05, 2009
`Enough is enough,' mayor tells unions
Miller urges CUPE to find a way to end strike, but representatives say both sides are `miles apart'
By: Paul Moloney, John Spears
Published: Jul 04, 2009
Source: The StarMayor David Miller has urged striking union leaders to "find a way to say yes" and end the walkout by city workers.
But union leaders swiftly rejected his message and in turn blamed the city for the walkout.
Miller appealed to union leaders to let children enrolled in city camps and swimming programs enjoy their summer.
"I want to say to the unions, and to the people they represent: Enough is enough," the mayor told a news conference.
posted on July 05, 2009
Not too late to roll back councillors' pay raise
By: Royson James
Published: Jul 04, 2009
Source: The StarTwo weeks down and maybe many more to go in Toronto's municipal workers strike. Common sense tells you there has to be movement in the next seven to 10 days or we might descend into a protracted strike. See Windsor, nearing three months on strike, for details. Management doesn't seem to have any ideas to jump-start the talks that stalled after six months of futile negotiations. Mayor David Miller sent a direct message to the striking workers yesterday, via the daily media briefing: "Enough is enough," he said, a hollow warning/desperate cry that was nearly drowned out by picketers bellowing just outside the briefing hall at Metro Hall.
posted on July 05, 2009
Let's 'get back to normal'
Mayor says progress at the bargaining table means 'now is the time to end strike'
By: JONATHAN JENKINS
Published: 4th July 2009
Source: Toronto SunThe first sign of movement in acrimonious contract talks between the city and two striking unions has prompted Mayor David Miller to ask the workers to take down the pickets and return to work.
"I want to say to the unions and the people they represent -- Enough is enough," Miller said at the city's daily briefing at Metro Hall yesterday, as striking workers chanted outside.
"There's been progress at the bargaining table this week and now is the time to end this strike. Allow children in Toronto to use their public services and allow us to get back to normal."
posted on July 05, 2009
Post-strike windfall?
Published: Jul 04, 2009
Source: The StarEvidently following the example set by strike-bound Windsor, Mayor David Miller has declared that Toronto, too, might compensate residents for services lost due to a walkout. "We can't look at that in detail until the strike is over and we assess everything," Miller told reporters yesterday.
"But the basic answer is, yes, that will be considered." Read more >>
posted on July 06, 2009
CITY: Garbage sites to close as others open
By: DAVID NICKLE
Published: July 03, 2009
Source: Inside TorontoTwo temporary garbage sites are closing and two new ones are opening up, as the city finishes the second week of its municipal workers' strike.
Toronto's top garbage official Geoff Rathbone announced the shift at a Friday afternoon news briefing. He said two of the city's 19 temporary garbage dumps - including the controversial Christie Pits dump in the Annex - will be closing this weekend because they're about to reach capacity.
Christie Pits, he said, will close by the end of the weekend, while the dump at the York Mills Arena was scheduled to close at the end of the day Friday.
posted on July 06, 2009
2 new dump sites to open
Mayor calls on city workers to end strike
By: JONATHAN JENKINS and IRENE THOMAIDIS
Published: 3rd July 2009
Source: Toronto SunThe city is opening two new temporary dump sites as it prepares to close two others which are close to capacity.
Both Centennial Arena – at 1967 Ellesmere Rd., near Markham Rd. – and Sunnybrook Park – near Bayview and Lawrence Aves. – have been added to the list of temporary sites the city is using to help manage waste during the civic strike.
posted on July 06, 2009
Christie Pits group says it won't back down on pesticide spraying at temporary dump
By: Donovan Vincent
Published: Jul 03, 2009
Source: The StarThe group Friends of Christie Pits has stepped up its war against the temporary garbage dump in its community, vowing to ignore urgings from Toronto's top public health official that it stop preventing the site from being sprayed for insects.
Since Monday morning, the group, with the help of striking city workers, has been blocking a company contracted by the city to spray the insecticide permethrin on garbage stored in the outdoor rink near Bloor St. W. and Christie St.
The company has been stopped from entering the site at least five times since Monday morning.
posted on July 06, 2009
Toronto on strike: Our parks grow thick with trash, and the union smiles
By: Rob Roberts
Published: July 03, 2009
Source: National PostSeveral sanitation workers, members of Local 416 of the Canadian Union of Public Employees, sat in canvas folding chairs in the shade today by the hockey rink in Christie Pits park, eating sunflower seeds from a big bag and tossing the hulls on the grass.
A steady stream of cars and minivans pulled up. Other City of Toronto workers (managers, who are not on strike) in neon green Customer Service t-shirts helpfully came forward and took up to three bags of garbage from each vehicle, and tossed it in the back of a white city pick-up truck. They then drove the few metres to the park’s hockey rink, and threw the trash into a pile which, at 1 p.m., a worker named Jim estimated to contain about 100 tons of garbage.
posted on July 06, 2009
Council's weak excuses
Published: Jul 03, 2009
Source: The StarArmed with excuses ranging from the puzzling to the absurd, most Toronto city councillors are still stubbornly clinging to their much-criticized 2.42 per cent pay hike. The hypocrisy of taking that increase – even as the city froze the salaries of its non-union staff and demanded restraint from unionized workers – has fuelled tensions in a bitter strike that is now dragging into its 12th day. For the sake of progress in the labour dispute, these excuses need to end.
Councillor Doug Holyday is building support for a petition seeking a special meeting of city council to roll back the pay hike. As of yesterday, with Raymond Cho agreeing to back the petition, 18 councillors were on-side, according to Holyday. But 26 others, plus Mayor David Miller, remain opposed to the meeting. A majority of 23 is required to force the meeting.
posted on July 06, 2009
Unions have helped many of us
Re:Civic workers' strike
LETTER TO THE EDITORBy: Isobel Michaels
Published: Jul 03, 2009
Source: The StarIt is not fair that Mayor David Miller should deny the strikers the same deal that the firefighters and police officers received. He also froze non-union employees' pay but gave his councillors an increase.
People have to remember that without the unions, they would be receiving U. S. wages and benefits.
I am a senior and have no affiliation with the union. I worked in the private sector but because of union gains, we received increases as well.
People, please think about this before condemning the strikers.
posted on July 06, 2009
Will strike save city money?
Windsor, suffering through a labourt dispute, says taxpayers will get money back when it's all over. Does the same apply for Toronto?
By: Paul Moloney
Published: Jul 03, 2009
Source: The StarWhat if a city strike actually put more money in your pocket? That's the scenario in Windsor, where officials say their 11-week municipal strike is saving taxpayers $300,000 a day in wages.
Strike-related costs will lower that figure eventually, but a net savings is expected and officials say some of the money saved will be passed back to residents.
posted on July 06, 2009
No July meeting for Toronto council
City says it cannot provide necessary staff
By: Jill Colvin
Published: Jul. 03, 2009
Source: Globe and MailToronto has cancelled its city council meeting scheduled for July 6 and 7. In a press release issued on Wednesday, the city said it cannot provide the necessary staff.
A city spokesperson said the meeting may be rescheduled after the strike. If not, council will not convene again until Sept. 30-Oct. 1.
Non-union staff who need to be present to answer questions have also been “redeployed to maintain critical services.”
posted on July 05, 2009
City council latest strike casualty
Councillors' regular meetings scrapped
By: Allison Hanes
Published: July 03, 2009
Source: National Post
With Files From Peter KuitenbrouwerWith business at City Hall ground to a halt for 12 days now, the prospect of a long summer of labour strife loomed large yesterday as Toronto officials hunkered down in Metro Hall, the nerve centre of strike operations, and this month's regular council meeting was cancelled.
There were no briefings for the media, no appearances by Mayor David Miller, no updates for the public, no progress in the stalled talks between the city and its striking indoor and outdoor unions.
A city council meeting, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, was officially scrapped, freeing up city councillors to do other things --like tile their bathrooms.
posted on July 05, 2009
Health officials say strike hindering swine-flu work
With pandemic planning on hold, some wonder if city will be ready for more serious outbreak
By: Theresa Boyle
Published: Jul 03, 2009
Source: The StarPublic health officials are concerned that the Toronto civic workers' strike is hobbling pandemic planning efforts for the fall, when it's feared swine flu may get worse.
"There is no doubt in my mind (that) this is a very inopportune time to have a strike. In terms of pandemic planning, we have a lot of work to do and this will hinder that work," said Dr. Michael Gardam, director of infectious disease prevention and control for the Ontario Agency for Health Promotion and Protection.
posted on July 05, 2009
Patio languishes without permits
By: Kenyon Wallace
Published: Jul 03, 2009
Source: The StarThe chairs are ready for customers. The railings gleam in the sun. The liquor licence is approved. It looks like the perfect summer patio.
But much to the chagrin of Sam Sinnthurai, owner of McGradies Tap and Grill at Victoria Park Ave. and Ellesmere Rd., the restaurant's brand new patio sits empty.
posted on July 05, 2009
Exterminators blocked from Christie Pits
By: DON PEAT
Published: 3rd July 2009
Source: Toronto SunForget about doctor's orders.
Despite a plea from the city's top doc to allow spraying, CUPE strikers have once again blocked the city's contract bug and vermin killers from spraying the growing garbage pile at Christie Pits park.
Picketers and angry residents have blocked Orkin, the private pest-control company contracted by the city, from accessing the site several times since Monday.
posted on July 05, 2009
Protests are the Pits
Residents upset over dumping site take out frustration on pest-control workers
Jakiw Zenczuk, 12, wears a mask as he and a friend
stand in front of the entrance to the Christie Pits Arena
yesterday. The strike by city workers is now in its 12th day.
(Jack Boland, Sun Media)By: DON PEAT
Published: 3rd July 2009
Source: Toronto SunDon't be such protesting pests!
Toronto's top doc is warning residents not to block the city's contract bug and vermin killers from spraying Christie Pits park's growing garbage stockpile.
So far, protesters and CUPE picketers have blocked Orkin from spraying the site a total of five times since Monday.
If the blockade is kept up, Dr. David McKeown warned yesterday he'll issue an order demanding the city spray the site and mop up the standing water the trash is swimming in under the Health Protection and Promotion Act. The order would force the city to take action.
posted on July 05, 2009
City strike leads couple away from the altar
Park photo, ceremony permits cancelled
By: Jill Colvin
Published: Jul. 03, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailWhen Marlene Dougherty saw the Rosetta McClain Gardens, she knew instantly it was where she wanted to marry.
“She loved it as soon as she saw it,” Trevor Dougherty said of his new bride.
It was to be an outdoor wedding, with the ceremony performed in front of a cascading waterfall, surrounded by flowers at the Scarborough park. But when the City of Toronto's unionized employees went on strike June 22, the couple's event and photo permits were instantly cancelled, five days before the big date.
“We started freaking out,” Mr. Dougherty said. “My wife was absolutely devastated. She cried for two days straight.”
posted on July 05, 2009
Toronto city workers should end strike, mayor says
Published: July 3, 2009
Source: CBCToronto Mayor David Miller said Friday "enough is enough" and city workers should end their walkout.
"Now is the time to end this strike," said Miller.
"There has been some progress [on a new contract] at the bargaining table in the past couple of days," he said, pushing the unions to reach a deal with the city.
At a mid-afternoon news conference the mayor of Canada's largest city said he is confident a deal with its striking civic employees "can be reached quickly.
"I want to say to the unions and to the people they represent, enough is enough."
posted on July 05, 2009
Toronto on strike: David Miller’s new tone
By: Allison Hanes
Published: July 03, 2009
Source: National PostMayor David Miller adopted an entirely new tone today, urging an end to an “unnecessary” strike by unionized civic workers while praising Toronto residents for their “remarkable” patience in the face of an extended work stoppage.
On Day 12 of the labour disruption, Mr. Miller sounded as if he had finally struck the right note as leader of a strike-afflicted city, after being criticized earlier for showing a lack of empathy for Torontonians and an amount of sympathy for the picketing workers.
posted on July 05, 2009
Kelly McParland: Toronto, the workers' paradise where nothing works
By: Kelly McParland
Published: July 03, 2009
Source: National PostToronto at the moment is a shining example of a major city operating along leftwing principles. Nothing works.
It's a workers' paradise, paradise in this case being a place where you no longer have to do your job. The services that two million people have paid for aren't being delivered, because two city unions can't get what they want and are on strike. The interests of the majority are subverted to the demands of a small, privileged minority. It's the Family Compact in reverse. The unions, ultra-conservative in their left-wing zeal, resist change at all costs. They want a world that remains forever unchanging, if change requires acceptance of fewer personal privileges. The state, according to the striking city workers, is them. The rest of us are supplicants.
Toronto has ceased functioning. The daycares aren't open. The community centres are closed. The pools don't operate. City-run camps are shut. Parks aren't maintained.
posted on July 05, 2009
Miller Says ‘Progress’ Made in Talks to End Strike (Update2)
By: Kevin Bell and Sean B. Pasternak
Published: July 3, 2009
Source: BloombergToronto Mayor David Miller said “some progress” has been made in negotiations with union representatives to end the 12-day garbage strike in Canada’s biggest city.
Miller called for city workers to end the strike and reach an agreement that is “affordable” to taxpayers and fair to employees. “Enough is enough,” Miller told reporters today in a televised press conference.
Two union groups, representing 26,200 workers including garbage collectors and office staff, went on strike June 22 to protest proposed cuts in benefits and sick pay.
posted on July 05, 2009
Back-to-work doesn't work for province
By: JONATHAN JENKINS AND ANTONELLA ARTUSO
Published: 3rd July 2009
Source: Toronto SunThe threat of a legislated end to Toronto's now 12-day-old garbage strike is as empty as a city trash truck.
What little pressure there may have been on Premier Dalton McGuinty to bring Queen's Park back for an emergency session to end the strike evaporated yesterday, with both opposition parties expressing little interest in such a plan.
"First best solution is always to get a local solution, and I do again want to encourage fully the mayor and the bargaining team he has and from the union to get a deal done and to move forward," Progressive Conservative Leader Tim Hudak said. "I think we always have to bear in mind, too, that any kind of settlement must always reflect the taxpayers' ability to pay."
posted on July 05, 2009
Toronto on strike: City hunkers down for a long one
By: Allison Hanes
Published: July 03, 2009
Source: National PostWith business at City Hall ground to a halt for 12 days now, the prospect of a long summer of labour strife loomed large yesterday as Toronto officials hunkered down in Metro Hall, the nerve centre of strike operations, and this month's regular council meeting was cancelled.
There were no briefings for the media, no appearances by Mayor David Miller, no updates for the public, no progress in the stalled talks between the city and its striking indoor and outdoor unions.
A city council meeting, scheduled for Monday and Tuesday, was officially scrapped, freeing up city councillors to do other things --like tile their bathrooms.
posted on July 05, 2009
City closes two dumps, opens two new ones
By: Vanessa Lu
Published: Jul 03, 200
Source: The StarWith two temporary garbage dumps nearly full just 12 days into the civic workers' strike, Toronto is opening two new temporary dumps today.
The new sites are at Centennial Arena at 1967 Ellesmere Ave. in Scarborough and at Wilket Creek-Sunnybrook Park near Eglinton Ave. and Leslie St. They will operate from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. every day just like the 17 other residential drop-off locations.
The York Mills Arena site at York Mills Rd. and Bayview Ave. is almost full, so it will close at the end of today.
The Christie Pits park site - which has been the scene of many protests from neighbours who objected to their park being turned into a garbage dump - is nearly full, and will close at the end of day on Sunday.
posted on July 05, 2009
City opens two more temporary garbage drop-off sites and announces two will close
Published: July 3, 2009
Source: CNWThe City of Toronto opened two more temporary drop-off sites at 3 p.m. today for the disposal of residential and Yellow Bag garbage. The two new sites, Centennial Arena Community Centre and Wilket Creek/Sunnybrook Park, join the existing drop-off sites in being open from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week. These sites continue to supplement the seven waste transfer stations that have been in operation since the beginning of the strike.
One of the City's original drop-off sites, York Mills Arena, at the southeast corner of York Mills and Bayview, has reached capacity and will close at end of day today. Another site at Christie Pits is expected to be full by end of day Sunday and will close Sunday at 7 p.m.
When bringing waste to any drop-off site, the public should combine Green Bin materials with other garbage and ensure it is double-bagged and securely tied. Residents can also help elderly and disabled neighbours by offering to take their garbage to a drop-off site.
posted on July 05, 2009
Summer jobs on hold during strike
By: ANTONELLA ARTUSO
Published: 3rd July 2009
Source: Toronto SunHave your children had trouble finding a summer job because of the civic strike? If so, we want to hear from you. Call the Toronto Sun city desk at 416-947-2211 or e-mail us at torsun.citydesk@sunmedia.ca
The Toronto City website says it all - "There are no summer job opportunities posted at this time. Please check back."
posted on July 05, 2009
What Mayor won't say could hurt him
By: Peter Kuitenbrouwer
Published: July 03, 2009
Source: National PostMayor David Miller, who is a formidable orator, has a simple speech to make this week, to rally Toronto to his side as the municipal workers' strike drags into its third week.
The Mayor should remind us that his administration has always stood with the working women and men of the City of Toronto. He must remind the union he has protected their jobs even when contracting-out would save money. He brought once-privatized waste collection in the former City of York into the public union fold. He has made a fair contract offer, and he wants the workers to get back to work.
posted on July 07, 2009
No progress in Toronto civic strike talks
Published: July 2, 2009
Source: CBC NewsPeople in Toronto appear to be settling in for a long civic workers strike and garbage pileup, with Thursday marking the 11th day of the dispute.
The two sides are still talking, but neither side is reporting any progress.
The strike has shut down many key city services — garbage collection, city-run daycare centres, community centres and swimming pools have all been affected.
On June 22, 24,000 city workers went out on strike to back demands for a new contract. They are members of two CUPE unions that represent both inside and outside workers.
StrikeMediaCoverage.QuickAndEasySolutions
posted on July 06, 2009
CHRISITE PITS: Pest control professionals turned away
City's top health official issues health warning
By: JUSTIN SKINNER and DAVID NICKLE
Published: July 02, 2009
Source: Inside TorontoToronto's top public health official issued a plea to residents around Christie Pits to allow pest control professionals to spray the growing pile of garbage at the temporary dump site there.
"It's difficult, but I would hope residents would recognize the concerns from a public health point of view of not allowing the city to carry out its pest control program," said Dr. David McKeown at a downtown news conference Thursday. "I'm asking residents to recognize that if we want to manage these sites in these extraordinary circumstances, in a way that prevents health problems, these pest control programs must be carried out."
posted on July 06, 2009
Dumpsites prompt outrage, acceptance
By: Noor Javed
Published: Jul 02, 2009
Source: The StarThey are both home to seasonal arenas closed for the summer. A throw away from baseball fields where kids and adults play league games on Sundays.
A whiff away from residents trying to get used to the idea they now have garbage dumps a short walk down their street.
But that's where the similarities end between the two communities dealing with temporary dumpsites: one in Christie Pits and the other on the edge of Runnymede Park.
posted on July 06, 2009
MOH wants residents to allow Christie Pits spraying
By: Donovan Vincent
Published: Jul 02, 2009
Source: The StarToronto's Medical Officer of Health is urging residents to stop preventing the city from spraying for pests at a temporary dump site set up at Christie Pits park.
"I am issuing an appeal to residents who areconcerned about the garbage to cooperate with city officials and to ensure access to these sites by the pest control operator,'' said Dr. David McKeown in a statement today.
posted on July 06, 2009
Flowers amid the stench
Inside City Hall
By: Brodie Fenlon
Published: July 2, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailAs the municipal workers' strike drags on, I find myself thinking often of Veich Jarrett. I met Mr. Jarrett on Day 1 of the strike outside Trimbee Court, an apartment building run by Toronto Community Housing on Denarda Rd. It's also home to the Trimbee Infant Resource Centre, where 20 infants and toddlers are cared for during the day by staff with Toronto's Children's Services.
The Weston neighbourhood was my first stop because there are four city-run childcare centres, including Trimbee, within a few blocks of each other. Say what you will about garbage collection and dumps in parks, no one has been more inconvenienced by the strike than parents with young children at the city's 57 daycares.
posted on July 06, 2009
Let crews cross lines to spray trash: health officer
Community group upset that top official will consider issuing health warning for growing garbage, but not order its removal
By: Tenille Bonoguore
Published: Jul. 02, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailToronto's medical officer of health will order the city to break protest lines and spray insecticide on mounting piles of garbage in Christie Pits before he recommends the rubbish be removed.
In a politely worded message to residents and union members blocking city-hired pesticide workers from treating the temporary dump, Dr. David McKeown said he would consider issuing a health hazard order if their actions continue.
Such orders legally compel the city to act as directed, and were used by the province in 2002 as grounds to end the last strike.
posted on July 05, 2009
Christie Pits rally at City Hall
By: BRIAN GRAY
Published: 2nd July 2009
Source: Toronto SunCity Hall is the pits for dozens of west-end residents.
Protesters took their anger over the temporary garbage drop-off site at Christie Pits to Nathan Phillips Square yesterday to let those in charge know they aren't happy about being dumped on.
But even before the afternoon rally started, residents in the area were voicing their displeasure closer to home.
posted on July 05, 2009
Official complaint lodged over dumps
By: DON PEAT
Published: 2nd July 2009
Source: Toronto SunThey've called the dump the pits, now they're hoping the Ministry of the Environment will do something about it.
Friends of Christie Pits Park told the Sun they have lodged a complaint with the ministry this morning after days of dumping in their Bloor St. W. park.
Members of the group and local residents have held protests around the park's outdoor rink since the City of Toronto began using it as a temporary dump site for the ongoing civic workers strike.
Group member Himy Syed says the basis of the complaint is that the city is violating its permit to operate a temporary dump site and the toxins contained in the garbage pose an environmental hazard to people and animals in the area.
posted on July 05, 2009
Hudak urges local solution to Toronto strike
New Ontario Conservative leader says it's too early for back-to-work legislation
Published: Jul. 02, 2009
Source: The Globe and MailEven though a strike by Toronto workers is in its 11th day, newly crowned Opposition Leader Tim Hudak says it isn't time yet to force them back to work. Mr. Hudak chided the unions shortly after being elected leader last weekend, saying the notion of a strike didn't sit well with taxpayers whose families may be struggling to make ends meet.
posted on July 05, 2009
City strike: patience, resourcefullness are indeed virtues
By: DAVID NICKLE
Published: July 02, 2009
Source: Inside TorontoIt is Day 11 of the municipal workers' strike as I write this, and the time has come to think about what to do with the garbage in the City Hall Press Gallery.
It has been accumulating for about two weeks now, and while the smell is manageable, the can is very full and there have been reports of flies. We had a little meeting, we city hall reporters, and made a note of the fact that no one is taking away our garbage. And the result of it all is that shortly after I write this, I will haul it down to my car, sneak it past the striking members of CUPE Local 79 and haul it to one of the temporary dump sites (I'm thinking the one in the port lands).
posted on July 06, 2009
Farmers 'thrilled' after city relents on markets
Produce vendors shut out since strike began will be allowed to return to civic squares
By: Paul Moloney
Published: Jul 01, 2009
Source: The StarThe city has backed down and will now allow farmers' markets to go ahead at civic squares.
The farmers are allowed back at Metro Hall tomorrow and Nathan Phillips Square next Wednesday, after being shut out since the city workers' strike began June 22.
"We're thrilled," said Cathy Bartolic, executive director of the Ontario Farm Fresh Marketing Association. "It's huge."
Content last modified on July 18, 2009, at 12:47 PM EST