ATU Local 615 President Darcy Pederson has been calling on Saskatoon Transit to retrotfit the City Of Saskatoon buses with protective plexiglass barriers. The call for the barriers continued throughout the Covid 19 Pandemic.

“The vinyl barriers introduced by Saskatoon Transit are just a temporary solution, we’re already seeing the vinyl barriers rip and cause vision issues that are sim
ply dangerous.”

“We need a permanent solution and the plexiglass barriers are the permanent solution.”

In the most recent GPC meeting Bev Dubois introduced a motion, “I move that the administration report back, in time for our next budget discussion in 2020, on the benefits, issues, estimated costs and funding source options to both retrofit our existing fleet with operator safety barriers and include these barriers in future bus purchases.”
Bev Dubois went on to say we need to protect our bus drivers. This is not fixing potholes or sidewalks this is the health, welfare and safety of our bus drivers.

ATU Local 615 President Darcy Pederson couldn’t agree more and is pleased to see the issue being taken seriously.

“We need to keep our members safe and healthy, whether it be protecting them from assaults or Covid 19, they have families to return home to and that’s our ultimate goal.”
#safetyfirst #yxe #healthandsafetyofbusdrivers