The Ottawa and District Labour Council's Sean McKenny says that some LRT workers feel unsafe in the tunnels.
Speaking to CFRA's Bill Carroll on The Morning Rush, McKenny says he'd like Mayor Jim Watson to visit construction sites and discuss their concerns,
"I would throw this this out as a challenge to our Mayor, and if he feels it’s safe there, that he and I and someone from the Rideau Transit Group, spend a couple hours talking to the workers. We would have the employer, the Rideau Transit Group, stand a few feet behind just to try to make sure those workers feel comfortable enough and free enough to comment. And he can hear for himself. And if they all feel safe then great, then he's right, but I'd suspect that the vast majority are going to suggest that they feel very unsafe every day."
McKenny says workers are afraid to speak out in fear of reprisal. But his office has received upwards of thirty calls in the past year, some anonymously, and one as recently as last Friday.
"They feel unsafe, that there is a push, that they know a friend who was injured. That they're concerned they're going to be injured as well."
This follows the second injury of an LRT worker in the past week.
Mayor Watson tweeted a response Monday afternoon, saying he would be pleased to speak one-on-one with workers in the tunnel.
@billcarrolltalk and I will be pleased to meet them one on one to address any concerns.
— Jim Watson (@JimWatsonOttawa) March 20, 2017