Union head ‘shocked and elated’ by LTC’s approval of driver barriers at emergency meeting

The head of ATU Local 741 said he was “shocked and elated” to learn that after years of pushing, barriers have been approved by the London Transit Commission (LTC) in an effort to protect drivers amid the novel coronavirus pandemic.

The decision was approved at an emergency meeting of the LTC on Friday, held soon after Andre Fournier raised drivers’ concerns in an interview with Global News Radio 980 CFPL’s Devon Peacock.

The pandemic has brought an added urgency to the need for barriers, but the decision has been years in the making. An increased trend of violence in the workplace in 2017 prompted the LTC to launch a pilot project involving barriers on select buses in 2018.

“It makes it harder for someone to get at you, throw coffee on you, spit on you — spit seems to be a favourite of people these days — or punch from behind, sucker punch while you’re driving. That kind of thing,” Fournier explained.

The LTC was also among many city associations, boards and commissions involved in a workplace culture scandal that prompted a full review of the City of London’s harassment and discrimination policies in 2018.

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