Elevator maintenance man accused of tampering with two Rexdale elevators as strike continues

Elevator maintenance man accused of tampering with two Rexdale elevators as strike continues

Police say an elevator maintenance man maliciously tampered with elevators in the city’s west end as a union strike for maintenance workers continues in the GTA this week.

The 57-year-old Toronto man, whose identity is not being released pending an investigation into further incidents, is facing two criminal charges of mischief over $5,000 and mischief interfering with property.

“We can’t provide any motive,” Const. Wendy Drummond said, adding police could not speculate what connection if any there was to an International Union of Elevator Constructors (IUEC) strike that began last week.

The local chapters of the union in Ontario, which represents some 1,400 elevators workers including 800 in the GTA, is currently disputing their collective bargaining with four major elevator companies — Otis, ThyssenKrupp, Schindler and KONE.

Drummond said a highrise at Kipling Ave. and Finch Ave. ordered elevator repairs on May 3, but the man who was identified as a maintenance worker was not assigned to the job. (Police confirmed the building’s elevators are maintained by one of the four elevator companies currently involved in collective bargaining disputes.)

The worker was allegedly given entry to the elevator room and tampered with the controls for two elevators, Drummond said.

“At that point, due to his actions, both elevators became non-functioning,” she said. The man was arrested on May 7.

IUEC’s Local 50 spokesperson Ben McIntyre, said the union had “no knowledge” of the alleged tampering.

“I wouldn’t say any of our members would be doing any of that,” McIntyre said.