The union that represents TTC workers says that a recent injury sustained by a bus operator at a garage in North York is at least partly to blame on the hiring of “unqualified contract workers.”
The Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 113 says that an operator was seriously injured on Aug. 16 when he was hit by a bus driven by a contract worker at the TTC’s Wilson Yard. The union says that the contract worker was travelling in excess of the 7 km/h speed limit at the facility at the time, something which may have played a role in the accident.
Further aggravating matters, the union said the TTC also failed to notify it of the accident at first, which is in violation of agreed upon policy.
“To save a few bucks, the TTC seems happy to lower its safety standards by having unqualified contractors operating busses for maintenance,” ATU Local 113’s Secretary-Treasurer Kevin Morton said in a press release issued Thursday. “How many more injuries and incidents will it take before the TTC realizes that contracting out safety critical positions poses unnecessary risk to all workers?”
ATU Local 113 says that the TTC continues to hire contract workers in its maintenance department, creating “unsafe conditions” for its members.
The union says that contract workers “receive less training than permanent staff” and often operate busses without a valid bus driver’s license.
The TTC, however, denied those claims in a statement provided to CP24.It said that service line cleaners "are required to possess a valid Class A, B or C Ontario license," which is "consistent with what is required of operators.
"This was an unfortunate incident that resulted in injuries to the operator which were treated in hospital.Safety is the cornerstone of all TTC operations and we take incidents like this seriously. We continue to review this particular incident with the Ministry of Labour and our contractor," the TTC said in the statement.
ATU Local 113 represents about 11,000 TTC workers.
