The Cantons Bus drivers did not take off. About fifty of them demonstrated on Wednesday morning in the parking lot of the Carrefour de l’Estrie shopping center in Sherbrooke.
They denounce their employer who, unlike other school carriers in the region, refuses to install them with protective plexiglass or vinyl partitions in order to protect their interior from the risks of contamination linked to COVID-19.
Wearing a mask and protective goggles is not only insufficient, say the drivers, but it poses a danger because the goggles easily mist up, thus constituting a nuisance when driving.
Sogesco, which owns Autobus des Cantons, explains its refusal to install partitions by the fact that they are not approved by Transport Canada and present risks in terms of reflections and their flammability.
The drivers claim that without this barrier, the front seats would have to be condemned to ensure distancing, which has not been the case since September.
After consulting Public Health and the Commission for Standards, Equity, Health and Safety at Work (CNESST), the Deputy Minister of Education wrote to the Federation of Bus Transporters as part of the back-to-school plan: “When the driver wears a procedural mask and eye protection, even if there is no plexiglass partition, it is no longer necessary to block off the front seats, you can sit on them. children. “
The union filed a complaint with the CNESST. They are waiting for the final report.
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