Fully protecting Transit drivers overdue
Doesn’t it seem like “enough is enough” has been said more than enough times? The union representing Winnipeg Transit drivers declared last week — again — that the service’s buses […]
The Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 has once again urged Winnipeg Transit to equip its buses with complete safety shields following a recent assault incident. The union argues that the current partial shields are insufficient to protect drivers from increasingly frequent and violent attacks. In a particularly alarming incident, a passenger armed with a hatchet threatened a transit operator outside the partial Plexiglas protection, forcing the driver to seek help from a nearby police vehicle.
This assault came just a month after another driver was taken off duty following a similar ordeal. Over 60 drivers are now on stress leave due to psychological trauma resulting from assaults on the job. The union estimates that Workers Compensation Board claims related to these incidents could cover the cost of full shields within two years.
Despite the city having allocated $2.7 million for a pilot project to test full shields in 2024, the union demands a faster implementation timeline. The increasing frequency of assaults on transit operators highlights the urgent need to prioritize driver safety, especially as Winnipeg's transit system continues to expand and evolve.
Written by urgent.news from Winnipeg Free Press's reporting — not their text. Machine-written — may contain errors; check the original before relying on it.
