THE MBTA said it has suspended 11 employees without pay for violating the transit authority’s policy on wearing face masks. Another 52 workers have received written warnings and 90 verbal warnings.
An MBTA spokesman said the suspensions have ranged from one to five days, depending on the employee’s past disciplinary record. The written warnings must be signed by the employee, who acknowledges another violation could result in a suspension.
The T employs approximately 6,370 employees, so the face mask violations represent only a tiny fraction of the transit authority’s workforce.
The T reported on Thursday that 75 employees had active cases of COVID-19 – up from 63 as of Monday.
MBTA Deputy Manager Jeff Gonneville said on Monday that for every employee infected with the coronavirus two others face lost work time as they await test results or go into quarantine. To free up employees to fill in for the absent workers, Gonneville said the T is slightly increasing the intervals between subway trains during peak travel periods to reduce the number of workers needed to operate them.
