Transit union vows to fight mandatory shots

New TTC policy requires workers, contractors to get COVID-19 vaccine

“Local 113 will aggressively oppose any action of the TTC which violates the rights of any member.” CARLOS SANTOS

PRESIDENT OF AMALGAMATED TRANSIT UNION LOCAL 113

The TTC’s largest union is vowing to fight the transit agency’s new policy requiring its employees be fully vaccinated against COVID-19.

TTC CEO Rick Leary announced Thursday vaccinations would be mandatory for all 16,000 of the organization’s workers unless they can show proof of a medical exemption. The announcement came soon after Mayor John Tory said the city would require its workers to get their shots.

Leary said in a statement the transit agency “has been a leader throughout the COVID-19 pandemic with respect to safety” and requiring employees be inoculated “is one more thing we can do for ourselves and each other to limit the spread.”

The TTC is an arms-length agency of the city, and was not automatically covered by the vaccine policy Tory announced. But at a news conference Thursday morning, the mayor said his administration had been in touch with municipal agencies and expressed “a strong desire” for them to follow the city’s lead.

The mayor cited figures that indicate 95 per cent of hospitalizations and deaths Toronto is experiencing in the fourth wave of the pandemic are in people not fully vaccinated.

While unions representing Toronto’s more than 37,000 municipal employees made no sign Thursday they would oppose the city’s vaccine mandate, Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, which represents about 12,000 TTC workers, was swift to condemn the move.

“Local 113 supports the right of every member of Local 113 to make their own informed decisions about their personal health matters, including vaccination. We oppose mandatory vaccination,” local president Carlos Santos said in a statement to his members, which include thousands of bus operators whose jobs require close contact with the public.

Santos noted the TTC has yet to provide details of how the mandate will be implemented, and it’s unclear whether employees who refuse to get the shots will be offered alternatives like frequent testing, or what the consequences will be for those who don’t comply.

“Whatever the TTC ultimately determines, please know that Local 113 will aggressively oppose any action of the TTC which violates the rights of any member,” Santos said.

The TTC had previously said it wouldn’t require its workers to get vaccinated, with a spokesperson telling the Star in May that getting the shot “remains a personal choice.” The agency described its reversal as a response to the city introducing its own mandate, as well the high transmissibility of the Delta variant driving the fourth wave.

The TTC’s initial statement said vaccinations would be mandatory “as of Sept. 13.” That would differ from the city’s policy, which would only require employees to provide proof of their vaccination status by that date. City workers won’t be required to be fully vaccinated until Oct. 30.

TTC spokesperson Stuart Green clarified the agency is asking workers for “proof of vaccination or medical exemption” by Sept. 13. He said the TTC expects its deadline for vaccination will “approximate” the city’s timelines, but details will be included in a policy document released by the end of the month. The mandate will not have to be approved by the TTC board, and will apply to TTC contractors as well as employees.

The transit agency has not published data on how many of its workers are vaccinated, but Green said its assumption is that most employees have already been immunized. As of this week, more than 1,060 TTC employees have tested positive for the virus.

The union’s opposition to the mandate could be unpopular with riders, who the TTC is trying to win back after the historic drop in transit use caused by COVID-19.

Andrew Dodds, a 35-year-old Riverdale resident, told the Star he’s been wary of taking transit during the pandemic, especially because he’s a Type 1 diabetic and considered high risk. He said knowing that bus drivers and station attendants he encounters have been vaccinated would give him “more faith in the system” and make him more likely to ride.

“This seems like the easiest and simplest way to say, ‘We absolutely value the safety of all of our colleagues (and) all of our customers,’ ” Dodds said.

TTCriders, a transit advocacy group, is also backing the mandate, but said in a statement that it “should not replace needed safety measures.”