Commuter chaos reigned in Toronto on Monday when 800,000 people were forced to walk, bicycle, or catch rides due to a wildcat strike by Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) employees that ended in the afternoon, too late for the evening rush.

Just before 7 a.m. wheels on subways, streetcars and busses all ground to a halt as the strike paralyzed the city.

Maintenance workers angered by a shift change that forces them to work overnight sparked the dispute. Drivers quickly joined the dispute, citing safety concerns about confronting angry customers who do not pay full fares.

The employer received a cease-and-desist order, demanding TTC employees get back on the job, but it was ignored on the makeshift picket lines.

Officials with the TTC and the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) spent much of the day trying to negotiate an end to the dispute.

Without reaching an agreement, ATU president Bob Kinnear ordered union members to return to work at around 3 p.m. His decision was prompted by the ATU's failure to get the Ontario Labour Relations Board to quash the back to work order.

"Our members will report for work (Tuesday), we will be instructing them to do so tonight, but the problems have not gone away," Kinnear said.

"I think that labour relations between the (TTC) and the union will be at an all-time low, there's no doubt about that."

Gary Webster, vice-president of operations for the TTC, said pickets started to go down soon after Kinnear gave the order.

"We expect the employees on the picket line to return to work (immediately)," Webster told The Canadian Press around 2:45 p.m.

"There are other employees that are beginning to report to work for the p.m. rush-hour, so we're expecting those employees or operators to be in a position to actually put some rush-hour service out."

The TTC it was unlikely that the system would be at full capacity in time for the evening rush, anticipating more disruption for commuters.

Toronto's mayor urged commuters to leave work at different times to avoid clogged streets and encouraged people to keep their cool.

"The TTC is doing its best to resume service for the evening rush hour," David Miller said. "First of all, stay calm."

Miller also criticized the union's actions, calling the wildcat strike "illegal from the start" and "never acceptable."

He said the walkout was not an appropriate way to resolve differences with the TTC.

"The union and its members are familiar with the work now, grieve later principle," Miller said during an afternoon news conference. "It is a cornerstone of labour relations in this province.

"If an employer is acting contrary to the collective agreement, the appropriate response is to file a grievance and take the matter to arbitration, not to engage in a strike," Miller continued.

Commuter chaos

Toronto was caught off-guard by the early morning strike as many had gone to bed Sunday night unaware of a pending shutdown.

"It came out of the blue," lawyer Liz Kiss said as she walked among thousands of people making their way into Toronto's financial district.

"I saw people on the street waiting for streetcars, they just had no clue that this was happening."

Confused commuters scrambled to arrange rides by using their cellphones, flagging down taxis and even hitchhiking to find a way to work.

Some rollerbladed and biked to work, and passing motorists offered stranded commuters rides downtown.

Others stayed home from work and school, while some said they missed appointments downtown.

Even TTC officials seemed unprepared for the crippling shutdown. TTC General Manager Rick Ducharme had been expecting some service disruption, but admitted the full-scale walkout caught him off guard.

"We knew there would be some job issues related to maintenance, janitors maybe not reporting for the night shift," Ducharme said.

"Nobody expected the whole system to go down. This is very dramatic."

Ducharme called the walkout "very well-orchestrated."

The chaos and confusion came as Toronto issued its first heat alert. Temperatures rose past 30 C, coupled with smog and humidity.

To help alleviate congestion on roads, the city altered traffic signals to ensure a smoother flow. Road maintenance and construction operations were also been minimized.

As streetcars and busses trickled back onto city streets in the afternoon, more chaos awaited commuters.

Regular TTC customers who were forced to drive to work were left battling heavier than usual traffic.

"It is a pain," Kristy White said as she drove with her windows rolled down, trying to beat the heat.

The issues

The TTC wants 53 of 87 janitors and 53 of 91 subway track workers permanently moved to the night shift from day jobs as part of a cost-savings measure.

Another main issue in the dispute is the safety of fare collectors, who were told last week by Kinnear not to engage in fare disputes because of a recent spike in assaults by passengers.

The union said it is looking for firm timelines for the installation of surveillance cameras and protective shields that have been promised.

Mayor Miller, who called on the province's labour minister over the weekend for help in resolving the dispute, said he was "extremely disappointed" in the union leadership.

"It is not appropriate for a strike. It's unlawful, and the union needs to follow the law and get back to work," Miller told CTV Newsnet.

"The TTC is tremendously important to the City of Toronto. We carry more passengers every day than live in any other city, and we need the system to get up and running and to do that, we need the union and their members to comply with the order of the labour board and go back to work."

Ontario Premier Dalton McGuinty said transit workers were breaking the law, and urged them to respect their collective bargaining agreement.

McGuinty said he was not prepared to consider declaring transit an essential service "in the heat of the moment."

Transit workers staged a two-day transit strike in 1999. And in 1991, an eight-day strike ended with back-to-work legislation.

With files from The Canadian Press