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UMD DOTS HAS PROHIBITED BUS DRIVERS FROM ENFORCING THE MASK MANDATE ON BUSES. They are now required to let people without a mask board. An incident occured on Sept. 2, 2020 when a UMD bus driver stopped to pick up 2 students who were not wearing masks... (THREAD)
For his own safety, and for the passengers’ safety, the driver told the students they could not board without a mask. They then pulled their shirts up over their noses, to which the bus driver refused them again, as that is not a CDC approved mask.
As the driver pulled away, the students, annoyed that they couldn't board, threw rocks at the bus. The bus window broke and they ran away. The driver then contacted his managers, but they informed him he was not allowed to enforce mask wearing and that was the job of UMPD.
UMD DOTS told the driver that the broken window was not the students’ fault, but his own fault for requiring the students to wear a mask. UMD DOTS management sent out this email a couple days later:
Not only is UMD is asking bus drivers to put their own/their passengers’ health at risk, they’re also requiring them to break the law by allowing people on the bus without a mask. Maryland mask mandate: https://governor.maryland.gov/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Gatherings-10th-AMENDED-7.29.20.pdf
This is unacceptable. UMD administrators and management are making rules which disregard the health of workers, students, faculty, + the College Park community. We’ve been asking them to bargain with our union over COVID health and safety policies but they’ve refused.
Please spread this far + wide so we can shine a light on how terribly UMD handled this incident. @UofMaryland @DOTS_UMD @President_Pines @drpattyperillo Bargain with frontline workers. This is not the only policy which needs changing, and our lives are on the line.
