Behind-the-scenes transit employees are getting a close-up during a six-week publicity campaign officially launched by their union Tuesday.

Advertisements touting the often unheralded work by TTC maintenance employees are rolling on TV screens and in movie theatres as part of an Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 campaign dubbed Protecting What Matters.

The aim is to educate and gain appreciation for the tasks that are done by maintenance employees, who are rarely in the public eye, to keep TTC vehicles in safe working order.

The ads come at a time when the TTC is contracting out bus cleaning to cut costs.

During a screening of the ads at a downtown hotel, ATU Local 133 president Bob Kinnear said maintenance workers are the city’s greatest assets.

“Our campaign is called Protecting What Matters because that is what we do,” Kinnear told reporters. “We take care of the details that take care of you.”

TTC maintenance workers have a “great track record” in public safety, he said.

In a city of more than 2.5 million people and more than 3,000 transit vehicles, the number of injuries due to mechanical failures is close to zero, Kinnear said.

Protecting What Matters is the largest public awareness campaign ever launched by the union, Kinnear said.

Advertisements began playing days ago and the campaign launch was put off for a few weeks following the death of TTC maintenance employee Peter Pavlovski, who was fatally struck by a maintenance train Sept. 14.

Two dozen maintenance workers are featured in three television commercials, a 90-second trailer in Cineplex movie theatres, and posters in TTC stations.

ATU Local 113 has also set up a website to promote the campaign and hold contests for free TTC passes.

The campaign is the latest effort by ATU Local 113 and TTC management to sway public opinion and educate people about transit operations.

In recent months, the TTC has held town hall meetings, Twitter Q&As and “meet-the-manager” events at stations to allow riders to speak to transit brass face-to-face.

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