Calgary Transit union endorses criminal code change to protect transit workers against assault

The union representing Calgary Transit workers is endorsing one of the reccomendations made by the Canadian Urban Transit Association in response to a recent spate of violent attacks on public transit throughout the nation.

The union representing Calgary Transit workers is endorsing one of the reccomendations made by the Canadian Urban Transit Association (CUTA) in response to a recent spate of violent attacks on public transit throughout the nation.

The association has made 27 recommendations to improve rider and staff safety on public transit, including a demand to hire more on-the-ground peace officers, special constables and police officers.

The president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 583, which represents Calgary Transit employees, says he's in favour of a recommendation to change the Canadian criminal code to strengthen penalties for the assault of transit employees by amending the subsection to include all transit workers, not just transit operators.

Local 583 has recorded several instances of abuse in Calgary between April 1 and April 20.

"We had eight assaults. Eight, what they refer to as 'code blues,'" said Mahar.

"So there's different levels of attacks against employees, and even those verbal ones –  where they're threatening them with their life or (making) derogatory remarks – those have a negative impact."

Mahar says abuse and attacks against employees have been happening for at least 15 to 20 years.