Over 130 TTC employees called back to work amid higher service demand
As an increase in demand has struck the TTC, they’re calling back 132 unionized employees that were laid off back in April.
According to the transit commission, the employees are set to return to work on October 4 as more people are relying on transit to head back to work and school.
“We have kept the TTC going throughout the pandemic so that essential workers can get where they need to go safely. The TTC moved to increase service to 90% of pre-pandemic service ahead of back to school, and I am pleased to see the TTC is bringing back even more transit operators now ahead of anticipated demand later this month,” said Mayor John Tory.
“The TTC will continue to make sure they are putting extra buses on the busiest routes across the system and making sure our transit system remains safe and reliable.”
According to the TTC, 450 employees were temporarily laid off after ridership declined due to the pandemic.
“The 132 employees are in addition to the 150 operators that returned to work to provide a demand-responsive service as ridership rebounds and students go back to school,” said the transit commission.
And as the back-to-school season is currently underway, the TTC plans to deploy over 100 more buses to manage the anticipated service demand this month.
However, when it comes to layoffs, this news comes days after it was reported that almost 80 TTC employees had tested positive for COVID-19.
Out of the 77 employees to test positive, 68 employees have recovered and returned to work.
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“The TTC plans service to stay ahead of the ridership curve,” said TTC CEO Rick Leary.
“We’ll continue to focus demand-responsive service on the busiest routes across the network in order to deploy the capacity to meet the demand where it’s needed most.”