The TTC has laid off more than two percent of its workforce for failing to meet its COVID-19 vaccine mandate.
The agency confirmed Thursday that it laid off 354 workers on Dec. 31 when the deadline to show proof of vaccination expired.
Employees who didn’t get their shots had been on unpaid leave since Nov. 21, and TTC has been operating a reduced service since the suspensions went into effect. The organization said last week’s layoffs would have no further impact on operations, and has launched a hiring drive to replace affected employees.
The TTC announced in August that workers who were not vaccinated would be subject to dismissal, and on Friday the agency’s spokesman, Stuart Green, reiterated the organization’s position that the policy was justified to protect public health.
“Experts commonly accept that the best way out of the pandemic and the best way to keep employees safe in the workplace is to vaccinate everyone,” he said.
“Obviously our hope was that everyone would agree with all credible experts and willingly comply with the policy. It’s really unfortunate that a very small number of people didn’t. ”
In addition to the laid off workers, fewer than 200 TTC employees remain on unpaid leave after showing proof of a dose of a two-dose vaccine. They have until January 27 to receive their second dose and be reinstated.
The proportion of non-compliant workers in the TTC was higher than in the city of Toronto, and the layoffs come in the context of a campaign waged against the policy by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, which represents the majority of TTC employees. . Only about one percent of the city’s 32,000 workers missed the municipal deadline Sunday to show two-dose testing.
Neither TTC nor Local 113 immediately said how many union members were among the fired transit workers. But in a statement, Marvin Alfred, the newly elected president of Local 113, called the firings “wrong and unfair” and said the TTC could ensure a safe workplace by using alternatives to vaccination, such as frequent testing.
The union filed a complaint against the vaccine policy, and Alfred said, “ATU Local 113 believes that we will finally be successful and our members will go back to work.”
Reference-www.thestar.com