MASK MANDATE REMOVED FOR TRANSIT WORKERS - TRANSIT UNION CALLS OUT CONTRADICTORY POLICY

WINNIPEG, June 17, 2022 - On the evening of June 16th, 2022, the City of Winnipeg announced the removal of the mandated requirement for City employees, including Transit workers.

On March 15th, 2022, the Province of Manitoba lifted the “public health orders requiring mask-wearing in public places” (Government of Manitoba, 2022).  However, Transit workers were still required to wear a mask under the City’s Emergency Operations Centre (EOC) for COVID-19 policy.  The competing policies created a situation where Transit workers were required to wear a mask, while riders were not.

As we now know, masks better serve to protect others from contracting infectious particles, known as “source control” and not the individual wearer (Public Health Ontario, 2022).  The requirement of our members to wear a mask did nothing to protect them against contracting COVID-19 from riders.  The competing policies sent a message that the safety of our members was less important than the general public.

Furthermore, the requirement took the element of personal choice away from our members.  While other Manitobans were “empowered to make their own decisions about what is right for themselves and their families” – our members were not (Government of Manitoba, 2022).

Since the inception of these contradictory policies, ATU Local 1505 had an ongoing grievance that had been referred to arbitration.  Other unions, such as the Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500 also had grievances filed.

We are glad the City finally listened to our collective voices and lifted the mandate.  It gives the element of choice back to our members of whether to wear a mask or not.  As frontline workers, our members were required to wear masks much sooner than most other City employees.  This change provides some much-needed relief, especially with the upcoming hot weather.

We want to thank the work the EOC has done over these unprecedented times to keep employees and residents safe.  We are glad the policies are now aligned.

- 30 -