GOLD: Rally calls on city to stem growing violence on buses

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Employees of Winnipeg Transit, fed up with the spiral of violence and disorder on city buses and at bus stops, held a rally at City Hall Tuesday morning demanding action, not words, from City Council and Transit management to initiate pro-active protections for bus drivers and users.

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The rally was called by the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1505 (ATU) to protest ongoing attacks on transit operators and passengers, as well as supervisors.

Dozens of ATU members, joined by members of The Canadian Union of Public Employees Local 500 (CUPE) and the Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW) and a few transit riders, heard their leaders call for the enforcement of paying fares and for the development of plastic shields for the driver compartment.

“We must fight to secure the safety of transit in this city … we have the power to drive real change,” said ATU President Chris Scott. He said of elected officials, “their kids, their parents, their loved ones (take transit), what actions are they willing to take to make transit safer for all of them?”

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ATU executive vice-president Derek Hanley told the crowd that freeloaders are “empowered to act as they wish to act,” and cause mayhem and injuries. “We need everybody here to email your councillors, your MLAs and your MPs to fund public transit and public transit safety.”

The union says that currently, 120 members are off work with physical or mental health issues.

The rally was timed to coincide with a planned meeting of The Transit Advisory Committee, chaired by deputy mayor Janice Lukes. That meeting was not open to the public and the City web page listed four committee members whose terms had expired last Dec. 31.

A member of that committee, Scott mentioned the upcoming meeting and explained to the media that “one particular manufacturer out of Quebec has offered to provide a shield designed for our bus at no cost to the city to test for six months … that’s the kind of an issue we need to see from anybody that wants to do business with the City (but) unfortunately the wheels of government moves at a snail’s pace.”

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Fare education and enforcement are a priority for ATU, with Scott referencing the transit officers in Toronto who go on board to scan transfers and TTC payment cards. He suggested that a $17M federal fund could be tapped to underwrite the technology for Winnipeg Transit.

Violent incidents in the past few months have included passengers being followed off the bus and beaten up and robbed, an on-board fight after a person pulled a gun and pointed it at another passenger, a mother and daughter stabbed on a bus by a girl gang, a driver being punched in the face, and a female operator crawling out a window to escape a knife attack.

Last week a supervisor tackled a “sleeper” who, after being roused and made to exit a bus, aimed a makeshift blowtorch using a lighter and can of hairspray at the official.

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Scott told the Sun, “We’re coming up on eight years since (bus operator Irvine Jubal Fraser) was murdered. I don’t care what level of government you’re with or your party affiliation. If you choose to be inactive on safety, the next death, whether it’s a member of the riding public or an employee, that blood will be on your hands, not mine.”

Council members are welcome to reach out to us, Scott said.

“I’ll work with anybody willing to help improve safety on public transit, not only for the operators but for the riding public. The public needs to feel safe when they’re taking the service. Employees and the public who are using the public services that are funded by public tax dollars need to feel safe when they’re using the public services.”

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City council members have themselves seen the chaotic conditions on transit routes. Mynarski Coun. Ross Eadie has told of a “just got out of jail” party that burst out on a bus he was taking, and previously stated, “I need to see some progress” not just with on-bus safety but with incidents at bus stops. North Kildonan Coun. Jeff Browaty has said he saw open liquor and drugs being injected on a Sunday afternoon trip downtown from his ward.

Eadie, Coun. Brian Mayes (St. Vital) and Coun. Jason Schreyer (Elmwood-EK) all made appearances during the rally to converse with those in attendance.

Schreyer told The Sun, “We know that almost 100% of violence to bus drivers does occur by people who don’t pay the fare. What’s obvious,” he said, is that “safety for the drivers in general means safety for the public too.”

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“This rally won’t do much until city council decides to get serious about transit,” Tim Solleveld told The Sun. “It’s time to start running transit like a business, and not like a charity, no more free rides and it’s time to hire fare and transit enforcement to help get rid of the trouble on the buses.”

Solleveld, a regular user of transit, said, “The way transit runs their business is a mess, too many free rides and the buses aren’t safe, and until they take care of these two issues, the problems will continue, because it’s usually always the people that don’t pay their fare, are the ones who are causing the problems.”

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