April 23rd 2020 Covid 19 Update

Today we got news from Scott Moe that there’ll be 5 phases to opening up the province again, 1st phase will be May 4th, 2nd phase May 19th the last 3 phases TBD, while this sounds promising is it too early? I guess time will tell....

Now is the time we all have to be vigilante to social distance, wear our masks, gloves and make sure we use our hand sanitizer. As of right now our loads on the bus should still be 9 plus the operator, rear door loading and no fares need to continue, and if you have someone displaying symptoms immediately call a supervisor don’t engage the passenger we want you to stay safe and healthy.

We broached the issue of more passengers on the buses as the weather is getting nicer, the employer stated to us that the number of 10 on the bus still stands, in the provinces phase 3 this number will rise to 15 so 14 plus the operator.

We brought up going back regular service they weren’t wanting to go down that road just yet, we told them now is the time to start looking at this and be proactive instead of reactive, we don’t want to be stuck behind the 8 ball again. We will continue to apply pressure on them to get us where we need to be.

We had a couple discussions with the City Manager today in regard to the homeless/vulnerable members of society and the issues we’re experiencing, the theme was Operators Need Support Out Here and we aren’t getting any and something needs to be done, he committed to finding a solution to the issue and he’d be in touch with me in the next few days.

We were contacted by Atu Canada’s Organizer Madelin Burt-D'Agnillo who has been assigned to help us with any campaigns we need, we discussed the Homeless/Vulnerable person issue and the issue of the province opening up and more passengers riding, she was going to do some research and put some stuff together that we can use. I’m very thankful for all the support Atu Canada and The International has provided us.

I have been on several town halls listening to the state of some of the properties throughout both the U.S. and Canada and we’re doing pretty good but that’s only because we’ve been diligent in all aspects of our work and keeping ourselves safe and looking out for each other, I can’t stress enough that we need to keep doing what we’re doing because it’s working, everyone needs to know your executive has been fighting hard for you and where we are today has not come without a fight, and we’ll keep fighting for everything we need.

Keep sending in those concerns you can text any of us or phone us or even email the office at ATU615@sasktel.net

Your Executive Board