TTC workers staged a brief work stoppage Wednesday afternoon over concerns about the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to TTC spokesperson Stuart Green, a shop steward at the Roncesvalles Yard streetcar facility issued a work refusal on behalf of about a dozen employees.

The stoppage, which was first reported by The Globe and Mail, temporarily delayed the cleaning of streetcars at the yard.

Green said an official from the provincial labour ministry was called to the scene and “issued a finding that allowed work to resume.”

The agency was forced to deploy buses on the 508 Lakeshore route at the start of service Thursday, but was able to get streetcars back out on the line later in the morning. There were “no other impacts,” Green said.

The TTC is cleaning its vehicles more frequently in the wake of the deadly outbreak, which the World Health Organization has declared a pandemic. As of Thursday, there were 59 confirmed cases in Ontario.

Officials announced last week a man who was later diagnosed with the virus rode the TTC for three days before going into self-isolation.

For weeks, TTC workers represented by Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113 have been pushing the agency to allow employees, some of whom come in contact with thousands of passengers every day, the option of wearing face masks as a precaution against the disease.

Management has so far refused, saying public health authorities have advised masks aren’t necessary.

Concern about COVID-19 is only growing however, with public and private institutions taking extraordinary steps in recent days in an attempt to slow the spread of the disease.

On Thursday, the Ontario government ordered public schools in the province closed for two weeks following March Break, and the NHL announced it was suspending its season.

Asked whether the TTC is bracing for further work stoppages, Green said the agency “will address any additional actions as they arise.

“We continue to communicate to our employees throughout the organization and give them information and supplies that will help keep them safe .... Our experience so far is that once we educate employees and inform them, they continue their duties.”

In a statement Carlos Santos, president of Amalgamated Transit Union Local 113, which represents most TTC workers, said the employee started the stoppage on behalf of afternoon shift workers “who were concerned that streetcar cleaning duties exposed them to COVID-19.”

“The work refusal was based on maintaining reasonable precautions to protect the workers,” Santos said.

He stated that “as a direct result of this work refusal,” the TTC had implemented a new procedure that would include guidelines for employees to wear personal protective equipment. The TTC also installed four portable hand-washing units at the carhouse.

According to Santos, the union and management will continue to work on workplace procedures “to ensure that the best industrial hygiene practices continue to be available to public transit workers.”

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“ATU Local 113 calls on the TTC to ensure it does everything it can to protect workers,” he said.

On a normal day the TTC carries about 1.8 million riders. The agency said earlier this week it has yet to see a decline in ridership that it could attribute to COVID-19.

However, with organizations of all kinds cancelling public gatherings and some employers directing employees to work from home, it’s possible ridership will dip.