ATU says “stop the witch hunt” against bus drivers
Posted Nov 18, 2011 07:55:52 AM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
OTTAWA – Ottawa’s transit union is giving the city an ultimatum: stop the “witch hunt” against our drivers or face job action.
The Amalgamated Transit Union sent a memo to the city’s Transit Commission in the wake of several allegations of rule-breaking by OC Transpo drivers.
It also issued a letter to its drivers telling them to walk away from any confrontation with passengers and to call for assistance rather than try to deal with any issues themselves.
“We don’t want any job stoppage at this time,” said Gary Queale, ATU president. “We have other measures that we can take and we will proceed to do so.”
He asked passengers to have more patience for the city’s bus drivers.
“It’s a frustrating job,” he said. “[Bus drivers] deal with all different types of people, they deal with the public they deal with construction and then they’ve got to deal with the inclement weather and, like I said, be patient and if you have problems with the bus schedules and that don’t take it out on the bus drivers. E-mail your councillors, e-mail the mayor.”
Queale said the union does not condone drivers swearing at passengers or talking on their cell phones as they drive but he said the tirade against drivers as a group was not called for.
“We understand the frustration of the passengers, their schedules are very tight and the buses are packed. Be patient with the operators and I’m sure, like in the case of the singing bus driver [Yves Roy] if the passengers had asked that driver to stop singing I’m sure he would have obliged,” Queale said.
“We have a complaint process without getting out your video cameras.”
Queale also said that the union does not appreciate drivers getting upset with passengers, or passengers upset with drivers.
