 |
 TTC ticket collector was photographed apparently sleeping at King Station. (SCOTT DAGOSTINO PHOTO) |
The more than 11,500 TTC employees got an earful Saturday and a stiff warning — by e-mail.
The commission’s general manager Gary Webster told workers that although he’s proud of the TTC, “I am becoming increasingly tired of defending the reputation of the TTC, tired of explaining what is acceptable and what is not, and tired of stating the obvious, that much of the behaviour being reported is, indeed, unacceptable.”
The e-mail follows a deluge of pictures and videos that show some TTC workers napping, taking breaks and reading the newspaper comics page with their feet up.
“You have heard me say that I am proud of the TTC,” Webster wrote. “I still am, but I am not proud of what we have been dealing with over the last several weeks.
“We all have to accept responsibility for allowing the TTC to drift into a culture of unacceptable operating discipline,” he stated.
“In other words, we have deemed it acceptable for some employees to not do all aspects of their jobs,” Webster said.
|
“We have two choices. We can continue to react to issues, deal with individual employee problems, and hope that the rest of our employees get the message, behave themselves and not get caught doing something they should not be doing.”
The other choice that the commission will take is that “expectations need to be clear, especially for frontline employees,” Webster said.
“Employees need to be held accountable for their poor performance,” he said.
The nature of the transit business is service-oriented, Webster said.
“I am ultimately accountable to our customers. As employees, you — and you alone — are accountable for your actions,” he said.
“The culture of complacency and malaise that has seeped into our organization will end,” he said.
“I hold all of management responsible to make this happen,” Webster wrote. “Reviews and plans are under way to address systemic issues regarding customer service, but real change starts with you.”
rob.lamberti@sunmedia.ca