Riding transit isn’t always a pleasant experience – especially in the miserable winter - but that’s no reason to take it out on transit staff.
MoveUP, the union that represents approximately 800 combined staff working at Coast Mountain Bus Company and TransLink, is issuing a plea to transit users to remember their holiday cheer when dealing with transit workers particularly at call centres.
“The holidays can be stressful for people and that often comes out as abuse towards us,” said MoveUP member Sean Bozek, who is a call centre staff member at CMBC, in a news release. “We get higher volumes of calls during this time of year. when people get frustrated or don’t like what they hear, we get screamed at, we get sworn at, and we get threatened. We experienced a lot of that abusive behaviour as well just last month, when there was the potential of a transit operators strike. Many people called us asking if the buses would be running and would yell and swear at us because we didn’t have an answer for them.”
MoveUP members working at TransLink’s Lost Property Unit also remind transit users that grinches may be operating during the festive season so people should keep a mindful eye on their possessions. If they do lose an item, they can visit the Stadium-Chinatown SkyTrain Station for assistance or go to TransLink’s website and fill out a form.
