A Peterborough Transit driver was sent home without pay because she refused to drive a bus with the controversial pro-life ads, says her union – a claim that one city director has refuted.
A grievance was filed by the Amalgamated Transit Union Local 1320 and obtained by The Examiner. It calls for compensation for the driver who was sent home.
The grievance says the driver – a woman – was assigned to work overtime on April 4, the first day that pro-life ads appeared on the exterior of two buses.
“Her assigned bus featured anti-abortion ads which she found offensive, discriminated against her and poisoned her workplace,” states the grievance.
It also says the driver feared she would face “vexatious” comments from the public.
“She was removed from her assignment and sent home without pay,” the grievance states.
One city official says that’s inaccurate.
Wayne Jackson, the city’s public works director, spoke about the issue because transportation manager Kevin Jones was unavailable for comment.
Jackson said the driver had accepted an overtime shift, but then balked when she was expected to drive the bus with the controversial ad.
She declined the overtime, Jackson said, and another driver took the shift in her place.
“No one was sent home – she chose not to do the overtime work,” he said. “Now she’s decided she should get paid (for work not done).”
But Tyler Burns, the president of the union, doesn’t see it that way.