TTC calls union directive on vaccine policy illegal job action
Labour board complaint filed over low compliance rates
The internal fight over the TTC’s vaccine mandate escalated Tuesday when the transit agency formally accused its largest union of engaging in an illegal job action by opposing the policy and causing “abysmally low” compliance rates among employees.
In an application filed with the Ontario Labour Relations Board on Tuesday afternoon and obtained by the Star, the TTC claims Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, which represents close to 12,000 transit agency employees, is violating labour laws by directing its members not to share their vaccination status with management.
Employees confirming their status is the first step in the vaccine mandate the TTC introduced on Sept. 7, which requires all workers and contractors to be fully inoculated by Oct. 30.
The union’s directive is illegal and “interferes with the ability of the TTC to operate and manage the public transportation system in a safe manner,” claims the application, which hasn’t been tested at the board.
A spokesperson for Local 113 said the union was unable to respond to the Star’s request for comment Tuesday evening. But in an earlier statement, Local 113 president Carlos Santos defended the union’s opposition to the vaccine mandate.
I’ll give them this: They’re bold.
The TTC, a.k.a. the transit agency that can’t make a simple announcement about its services without provoking an obscenity-laden rant from riders, is trying to win Toronto back through the power of song.
The transit agency released a spirited promotional video this week in which bus drivers, cleaners, track workers, a transit rider and Mayor John Tory serenade Torontonians with a parody of the opening theme song from the 1970s American sitcom “Welcome Back Kotter.”
“Welcome back to the same old life that we had before,” transit staff sing while performing various COVID-era rituals from deep cleaning buses to applying hand sanitizer, to handing out PPE.
“Well the trains have all changed since you’ve been around/We’ve arranged it so they’re safer now/We’re back on track and together at last/ Welcome back, welcome back, welcome back.”
You can’t deny it. The song is cute. It’s so earnest it might even crack a smile out of the surliest TTC rider (a passenger on the notoriously tardy 70 O’Connor bus for example).
And its message, in a general context, isn’t off base. The city is back in many ways. Schools, universities and colleges are back in session — in person. Sports stadiums and restaurants are filling up thanks to high vaccination levels and vaccine passports. “We have crossed the 80 per cent mark on eligible Torontonians who have completed vaccinations,” Dr. Eileen de Villa, the city’s top doctor, said triumphantly at a board of health meeting Monday. So, yes, Toronto is back in several ways.
Unfortunately, the TTC just isn’t one of them. Ridership numbers dipped to historic lows during the pandemic. At present, TTC ridership is still slightly less than half what it was pre-pandemic. Of course, it will increase with time, but the situation isn’t helped by the fact that as of mid-September (the first deadline for vaccination disclosure) less than half of TTC staff had disclosed their vaccination status.
It also doesn’t help things on the safety front that in June 2020, two subway trains nearly collided in what could have been a high casualty event.
As a former frequent transit rider myself, when it comes to COVID-19 safety, I care far more about the vaccination status of my bus driver than I do the cleanliness of the bus, especially because I have a child currently ineligible for vaccination. I’m sure many riders who know how COVID-19 spreads (not typically via surface contact) feel the same way.
Yet the transit agency appears obsessed with hygiene theatre, arguably at the expense of adequate service.
According to reporting by the Star’s Ben Spurr in August, the TTC’s commitment to disinfecting vehicles was a leading cause of service delays. Delays in turn can cause crowding, and crowding, we know, is riskier where COVID-19 is concerned, than dirty surfaces.
That said: there’s no evidence that transit is one big superspreader event in motion. The rate at which TTC employees contract the virus appears to be in line with the general population. In fact, there’s reason to believe subway cars and other similar forms of transportation are lower risk for COVID-19 than you might expect.
According to Kim Schive writing for MIT Medical last year, “Commuter rail cars, subway cars, and light rail vehicles (like those on the Green Line) are not the tightly sealed aluminum cans you might imagine them to be. All of these vehicles have HVAC (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning) systems that continuously filter the air within their passenger compartments and introduce fresh air into circulation.” There’s also the fact that people riding on such cars are mostly strangers keeping their distance from one another — or trying to.
If the TTC wants to welcome back Torontonians for real it should ditch the song-anddance routine, which though disarming doesn’t convince us transit is safe from the virus.
It should focus instead on relaying up-to-date safety data, and more importantly, getting its vaccination disclosure numbers way up among staff (and in turn, anxiety way down among riders).
The transit agency faces a unique challenge that other urban institutions don’t. It’s trying to get thousands of people back indoors and at ease congregating in narrow spaces underground. It’s a daunting task, one that will take a lot of time, likely years.
The song was cute. But it doesn’t cut it.