TORONTO, Feb. 10 (UPI) -- The union chief for Toronto Transit Commission workers lashed out at the public for taking "harassing" cellphone videos of employees.
Amalgamated Transit Union President Bob Kinnear told a news conference the 10,000 TTC workers feel intimidated.
This year, videos and photographs emerged of a subway toll collector allegedly asleep at his station, a streetcar driver holding up traffic to make an ATM withdrawal and a bus driver taking a seven-minute unscheduled break at a coffee shop.
Kinnear said the public was being more abusive to staff as a result, the Toronto Sun reported.
"Stop harassing people who are doing their jobs. Stop insulting them. Stop waving your phone cameras in their faces as you get on the bus or streetcar. Stop spitting on them. Stop calling them lazy or overpaid. Stop the video stalking of drivers when they stop for a washroom break," Kinnear said.
He also lashed out at TTC management after General Manager Gary Webster admonished workers and said he was tired of apologizing for their behavior.
Kinnear told the Sun a series of town hall meetings were being planned to diffuse public hostility.
