MTA gives transit workers the OK to wear face masks

The MTA has lifted its ban on face masks for its subway workers amid fears the coronavirus will soon infiltrate the public transportation system.

The agency’s Chief People Officer Paul Fama sent a memo to employees on Sunday noting they are allowed to wear face masks on the job amid the outbreak “if they have underlying medical conditions or if this makes them feel more comfortable at this time.”

Fama’s memo was a departure from the Metropolitan Transportation Authority’s stance on the issue last week, when agency’s Chief Safety Officer Pat Warren said “medical guidance indicates that respiratory masks do not protect healthy people” and “at this time they may not be worn by uniformed MTA employees.”

Transport Workers Union Local 100 President Tony Utano took issue with the directive, and accused transit heads of putting optics before worker health.

“We said from the beginning that transit workers have the right to wear masks for their safety or comfort, and now the MTA agrees,” Utano said in a statement.

Warren on Monday said the change of course was a result of Gov. Cuomo decision on Saturday to declare a state of emergency due to the outbreak, but reiterated that health officials “continue to adivse that wearing masks is neither recommended nor helpful as a deterrent” to contracting coronavirus.

Local 100 also won a fight with the MTA over the agency’s new “biometric” timekeeping system that requires employees to scan their fingerprints in order to clock in and out of work. He said the coronavirus could be spread through the devices.

Workers will still be required to use the clocks, but the agency suspended the requirement for them to check in with a scan of the hand.

The memo was distributed as the number of confirmed cases of coronavirus cases in New York State exceeded 140. Mayor de Blasio said a quarantine is a “possibility” if the situation continues to get worse.