Regina transit union would like to see enforcement of mask policy

While masks are considered mandatory on Regina Transit, there currently isn’t any enforcement of that policy.

The union for the city’s transit drivers, ATU Local 588, doesn’t want the enforcement part to fall on its members.

“At this point it is not being enforced,” union president Kevin Lucier said on Saskatchewan Afternoon. “We very much support this (mandatory mask) approach. The last thing we want is our operators to be the ones enforcing this on the road.

“As we’ve seen on other properties across Canada and the U.S., it has just sort of led to conflicts and possible assaults and we really don’t want nothing to do with that.

“We’ve had a few incidents where passengers have been conflicting with other passengers regarding the masks. We’ve been instructed to try and calm those situations down as we normally would. However, we don’t want to get into position where we’re kind of dealing with conflicts with the public.”

Lucier said he would be in favour of bus police — someone on the bus who is trained and able to enforce the mask policy and other rules.

“I’m not sure what the finances of the city would be like to try and get that into place. If (city officials) want this policy enforced, that’s the way they would need to go,” Lucier said.

There were 11 transit drivers who had to self-monitor after a person rode on multiple routes last week prior to testing positive for COVID-19. Lucier said the union does have some things in place to keep its members safe, such as a vinyl screen surrounding the driver.

“As long as we can operate that bus safely, we’re satisfied,” Lucier said.

And like many others, Lucier says the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the union’s members.

“People are stressed (and) the members are stressed, no question about it. We’re doing our best to try and maintain the service for the public out there but it’s definitely taking its toll on our family life (and) our sense of security and safety,” he said.

“But (the drivers) are rolling with it. They’re a resilient bunch.”