TTC Prepares for Potential Worker Shortage Based on Release of COVID Vaccination Status – Toronto | The Canadian News

The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) has told the workers union that there could be a labor shortage due to its COVID-19 vaccination policy.

The transit agency has told ATU Local 113 that it will not know what the final number of vaccinated employees will be as of the October 30 deadline, but anticipates there will be staff reductions.

Employees were required to disclose their COVID-19 vaccination status by October 6, a date that was delayed multiple times, due to a dispute with the union that told its members not to disclose their status and called the policy “illegal. “.

“Frankly, if the ATU 113 executive hadn’t spent weeks misleading our employees by encouraging them to retain their status, this might not be a problem, but here we are,” the transit agency said.

So far, 80 percent of employees have shared their status, the TTC said. Of that, 90 percent have indicated full vaccination and the rest have received an injection. The TTC said its system does not capture people who are not vaccinated, as they are identified by the elimination process.

The TTC sent a letter indicating the start dates of the registrations in buses, trams and subway that should be delayed and revised to November 3 from the end of October.

“From due diligence, we need to visualize different scenarios and our service planning process requires a long lead time,” TTC said.

ATU Local 113 contends that TTC management did not consult the union about its mandatory vaccination policy or provide adequate information. He also said that the TTC failed to provide reasonable solutions, such as regular tests offered as options by other employers.

“We believe that requiring vaccination as a term of employment violates the collective agreement, statute and privacy law,” union president Carlos Santos said in a statement. “We are committed to fighting this problem in grievance arbitration if TTC does not reconsider the policy.”

“TTC workers have already been under an enormous amount of stress during the pandemic,” Santos continued. “This unnecessary and illegal policy has only made things worse. Our members want to focus on serving public transportation passengers. Instead, they are spending sleepless nights worrying about losing their ability to support their families for a health care option. “

The transit agency said as to “what happens” on Oct. 30 – for those who are not vaccinated and do not have a valid exemption – that no decisions have been made but that those employees would violate the policy.