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Driver Safety As A Priority

ATU Local 615 President Darcy Pederson has been calling on Saskatoon Transit to retrotfit the City Of Saskatoon buses with protect

Escalating Violence on Transit across Canada

February 1, 2023


The Honourable Scott Moe
Premier of Saskatchewan
226 Legislative Building
Regina, SK  S4S 0B3
CANADA

 

Local union president says more security is still needed for workers and passengers

Local union president says more security is still needed for workers and passengers.

City issues call for last safety barriers for Saskatoon buses

Saskatoon Transit tests full safety shield to better protect drivers

Saskatoon Transit tests full safety shield to better protect drivers | CBC News

There have been 28 assaults on transit drivers since 2017, according to a report to city council

Saskatoon Transit has installed the first safety shield in one of its buses in a bid to better protect its drivers.

Operator Assault Barrier Has Been Installed

Today is a very proud day for ATU Local 615!! Today the first prototype for an Operator Assault Barrier was finished being installed.

Saskatoon Transit union calls for better training to help drivers handle abusive or aggressive bus riders

SASKATOON -- Darcy Pederson says Saskatoon Transit drivers could benefit from more training when it comes to dealing with abusive and aggressive transit users.

On Monday the city’s Standing Policy Committee for Transportation heard from Darcy Pederson, president of the Amalgamated Transit Union (ATU) Local 615, while reviewing a city report which showed 130 negative interactions reported on transit buses in 2020 – up from 51 in 2017.

Pederson told the committee the 266 transit operators in Saskatoon would benefit from better training in de-escalation techniques.

COVID-19 partly to blame for increase in assaults on Saskatoon transit drivers

Saskatoon Transit operators reported 130 "negative interactions" with passengers last year, well above the 76 recorded in 2019.

The COVID-19 pandemic is thought to be at least partly responsible for a sharp increase in the number of “negative interactions” Saskatoon transit drivers reported last year.

New data from city hall shows that city bus drivers reported 130 such events in 2020, almost double the 76 recorded in 2019, and well above the 51 each in 2018 and 2017.

Saskatoon transit drivers latest to call for vaccine priority

ATU Local 615 is the latest group to call for access to vaccines in the second phase of the province's mass immunization campaign.

SASKATOON TRANSIT UNION LOCAL CALLS FOR PRIORITY VACCINE ACCESS FOR FRONTLINE TRANSIT WORKERS

President of Local 615 of the Amalgamated Transit Union, Darcy Pederson, is calling upon the Moe government to give priority vaccine access to transit workers as the government announced its next phase of vaccine rollouts last week. They once again failed to include transit workers. 

Transit professionals are some of the most vulnerable when it comes to the COVID-19 virus as a result of their interaction with millions of riders per day. The high volume of interaction has led to more than 3500 ATU transit workers being infected in both Canada and the US. 

Council backs phasing in compartments to protect bus drivers

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The drivers' union has long called for more protection for its members; 28 assaults on drivers were reported over the last three years.

Saskatoon city bus drivers are set to receive the protection from violent passengers their union has long been calling for.

City council voted unanimously in favour of allocating $500,000 to begin outfitting buses with enclosed driver compartments. The goal is to find more money to retrofit the entire fleet of 140 vehicles beginning in 2022.

Council backs phasing in compartments to protect bus drivers

The drivers' union has long called for more protection for its members; 28 assaults on drivers were reported over the last three years.

Saskatoon city bus drivers are set to receive the protection from violent passengers their union has long been calling for.

City council voted unanimously in favour of allocating $500,000 to begin outfitting buses with enclosed driver compartments. The goal is to find more money to retrofit the entire fleet of 140 vehicles beginning in 2022.