The TTC has told traffic union leaders that it is preparing for a labor shortage next month, when the deadline for employees to get vaccinated expires, which the union warns will mean service cuts and more crowded vehicles.
In a letter sent to Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 leaders on Thursday, a copy of which was reviewed by Star, the TTC said it was pushing back the date that bus, streetcar and subway operators can sign up for their next round of shifts.
The letter from TTC COO Jim Ross says the delay is necessary “to adjust our crew and service requirements based on anticipated reductions in the available workforce after the vaccination deadline.”
Under the TTC vaccination mandate, all employees must be fully vaccinated against COVID-19 by October 30. Operators were supposed to start signing up later this month for the November shift round, called the “board period,” but Ross’s letter states that it was delayed until November 3, after the deadline for November. vaccination.
The TTC submitted its vaccine mandate last month and has said compliance is a “precondition for employment.”
But while the city of Toronto has said it will suspend workers who do not receive their vaccinations, the transit agency has yet to clarify what discipline its workers will face if they fail to comply with the mandate.
In a statement to the Star on Thursday, agency spokesman Stuart Green did not explain why the TTC expects to have fewer workers available after the vaccination deadline. He said the agency has not made any decisions on discipline and downplayed the meaning of the letter, describing it as “one of many that go back and forth between the TTC and ATU113 on a wide range of issues all the time.
“All we are communicating, in this case, is that we do not know what the final number of vaccinated employees will be on October 30,” he said.
“Obviously, our hope and preference is that there are no problems on October 30, but, at this point, we just don’t know. Safety is paramount to our operations and we are not going to compromise on that. “
Frank Malta, an assistant business agent for Local 113, which represents some 12,000 TTC workers, said in an interview that fewer workers would need service cuts.
Malta warned that lower service would make the system more saturated and increase the possibility of spreading COVID-19.
“If COVID is a problem for the mayor or for (TTC CEO) Rick Leary, why is he reducing service?” he said.
“You are leaving the city at risk.”
Instead of the transit authority suspending or firing employees, Local 113 wants TTC to offer workers who choose not to get vaccinated alternatives that it says would allow them to continue working safely, such as frequent testing.
(The problem is emerging elsewhere as well. On Wednesday, the city of Toronto said that any city worker who is not vaccinated by October 30 will face a six-week unpaid suspension and employees who are not vaccinated by He will be fired on December 13. One of the two largest municipal workers unions has already filed a complaint about the policy.)
Local 113 has filed a complaint challenging the TTC’s mandate. But last week he abandoned his previous directive asking his members not to comply with management’s demand to disclose their vaccination status.
Wednesday was the revised deadline for TTC workers to confirm their status.
According to the agency, more than 80 percent of employees have provided their vaccination information, including 76 percent of union members.
Of those who have confirmed, more than 90 percent are fully inoculated.
TTC’s ridership is at about 44 percent of pre-COVID-19 levels, and the agency is deploying about 98 percent of normal service, in part, to keep crowding to a minimum.
Reference-www.thestar.com