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By Jesse Russell

Transit workers in Toronto shut down buses and street cars out of frustration over what they see as a failure of management to address safety issues. More than 700,000 people rely on Toronto's system of 1,300 buses. Last week, Bob Kinnear, President of the Amalgamated Transit Union in Toronto, said it was management who brought the strike on by locking the gates before workers could report fro work. Last week the union had requested for workers to stop collecting bus fares from passengers in an attempt to reduce attacks. Kinnear said that attacks - including spitting and stabbing - have become so bad that it is safer for the drivers to not enforce the fare if someone chooses not to pay. The employees want to be paid if they miss work due to an assault.