There’s a call for more protection for Thunder Bay’s transit drivers.

Drivers are asking for protective barriers on city buses after an assault on a transit driver on Boxing Day. They held a rally outside City Hall Wednesday night to draw attention to their complaints.

“We want bus shields now,” says Amalgamated Transit Union 966 President Ken Koza. “Bus operators are trying to steer a 40,000-pound vehicle through city streets and we need the safest possible workstations. We expect transparent partition enclosures around the bus operator compartment and a panic button on all new and current conventional buses immediately.”

Koza points out that for several years now, there have been calls for barriers separating bus drivers and passengers. He feels the city is sympathetic to the union’s complaints. “Their response to the demands of bus operators has been quite positive and I am urging them to pass a resolution for bus shields as quickly as possible.”

The union head is also using this opportunity to raise the need for a Canadian version of the Transit Operator and Pedestrian Protection Act, which is an ATU initiative in North America.

“What happened on Boxing day is not an isolated incident, each year more than 2000 transit operators are assaulted and 755 of these incidents occur on buses. We want all levels of government to work together to pass a national version of the Transit Operator and Pedestrian Protection Act.”