Undercover Boss - Toronto Transit Commission S1 E3 (Canadian TV series)

with the world's economy in a fragile state top corporations must adapt to survive the bosses of some of Canada's biggest companies are about to take extreme action to stay ahead of the gang they're going undercover in their own organizations this week we go undercover with a Toronto city councilor who keeps the largest public transport system in Canada running issues the Toronto Transit Commission is responsible for getting one and a half million people to work every day Karen stints has to keep the wheels turning but with the Commission facing budget cuts this boss is about to take radical action and go undercover she'll swap her heels and smartphone for a safety vest and broom posing as a trainee being taped for a documentary she'll assume a shocking new identity and find out what it really takes to keep the TTC on track okay here we go when her week of secret surveillance is up the workers she met will be called in to head office and when they find out the truth about who she really is Karen stones music lives will never be the same again because this is Undercover Boss Canada the Toronto Transit Commission will transport over half a billion people this year public transit keeps large urban centers moving efficiently and millions of cars off already gridlock streets Karen stints was appointed chair of the TTC just over a year ago - city councilor additionally I'm chair of the Toronto Transit Commission the third largest transit agency in North America and the largest in Canada Karen is responsible for setting and managing the budget deciding policy and dealing with customer service issues the pretty exciting rule making sure that we're providing a good service that's responding to the needs of the public Karin has been working hard all her life when she was for family life unraveled as her mother battled mental illness as a child growing up and having a parent with mental illness there were lots of difficulties that that you experience often times my mum wouldn't be able to cook dinner and so we went I would have to figure out at a very young age how I was going to manage by the time she was 10 her mother who suffered from schizophrenia could no longer raise her her father stepped in my father was very good because he always made sure that my mother was included in our family dinners even though it was very difficult for him so that I would always have a relationship with my mother but as I've grown older I've recognized that it's really the person that I love and it's the illness that I don't it is the person who needs you makes you forgiving Karin met her husband Darrell when they worked together 15 years ago today her stable family means everything to her I have the benefit of being married to one of the best husbands in the world I have two wonderful kids I'm sorry they are they're my grounding they are the source of joy I have learned more through my kids than I have in my life my wife's best traits are compassion dedication Karen has his remarkable ability to really connect with people it's like she's trying to make things better an ability to connect with people is needed now more than ever in a climate where public services have been coming under attack the TTC has faced its share of criticism we still have incidents where operators are appearing rude and customers don't feel as if they're getting the service that they're paying for public frustration is boiling over and TTC employees are abused daily the TTC driver was attacked this morning we know we have a public perception issue and as we try to address it it always feels as if we're taking two steps forward and then one step back the public want it to be a clean efficient service and we fall short of our service delivery and this year Karen and her board are having to slash their budget by 10% which means jobs could be on the line so there's many things that I hope to discover by going undercover a one is what kind of cuts we can make and what kind of cuts would really be detrimental to the service the other part is hearing how we can provide better customer service hey guys how you doing good so I want to thank you both for coming down to City Hall I am going undercover at the TTC in various jobs over the next six days okay and the reason why I want to do this is because as we undergo our budget exercise and we try to become more efficient it's important for me to understand all the functions of the organization so that we don't cut jobs that are essential to the communities also we've had some public perception concerns with the TTC and and our customer service so I'm looking forward to getting to work with our employees and learning from them and hearing from them and in the process changing public perception are you gonna hide from our employees or well they're not gonna recognize you when you walk around well have a disguise because she is recognizable as a Councilwoman and chair of the TTC Karen will transform herself into Ruth bear a trainee who hopes to be working at the TTC while being followed by a documentary film crew having the disguise that I have I'm pretty confident that I'm not gonna be recognized not only will Karen be changing her looks she'll also be changing her address for the week Karen will be away from her family staying at a budget motel tomorrow is our first day undercover coming up Karen puts on the brakes now what I need to do is not hit the emergency brake Oh what's going on here and later will pulling an all-nighter push her off the rails Karen stims used to be a career high flyer now she's been brought down to earth she's quit her job for the week as chair to the Toronto Transit Commission it's 4:30 a.m. and Karen is preparing for her first job not just undercover but underground in the subway the daily pressures for subway operators are enormous they carry almost a million people a day through the system and we as a rule don't talk about jumpers because we don't want to encourage any copycat behavior we do have approximately 23 jumpers a year and first subway operators who witness that it's extremely traumatic for them at 23 a year that means 4% of subway drivers will experience a suicide at least once during their career I'm here at Wilson yard and I'm learning how to be a subway operator I have to say I'm a little bit nervous about it and I feel kind of like I want to throw up because the full weight of what I've just got myself into is beginning to dawn on me subways are intimidating and if you make a mistake a consequences could be deadly Karin will be getting instruction from Amy a subway operator who has no idea that the rail rookie is actually her boss hi baby hi Amy I'm Reese nice to meet you so why do you want to be a subway driver I do I'm a little nervous about it it's gonna be fun I guarantee you that I never train is always to have somebody to watch your back that's right I can't believe there's a beauty right now we'll just focus on driving it and then done we're gonna start operating the doors okay excellent sounds good during the rush hour up to a thousand commuters squeeze into the Train and Amy's responsible for them all oh yes I have to stop the train there that ensures that the Train is on the platform back-end is not out and when you do stop how long have you been working at the TTC thirteen and a half years I thought I love trains and to be able to drive a train that would be like wow is it a huge responsibility it is you have all these people's lives in your hand but you know what life is busy especially if you have children how many kids down I have four so when I come to work for me this is like relaxation yeah just me and my train a me and Jerry her partner on the train switched places on return routes driving One Direction Manning the doors in the other now it's Amy's turn to control the door mechanism making sure the passengers are all safely aboard that it's not a nine-to-five when they're at home enjoying Christmas in New Year's and all that with their family we're here make sure that they get around we have to we end up not being with their families do you have time together you and your husband I started 6:30 in the morning and I'm usually home about eight o'clock oh my gosh we have a lot of stress in that way we have nothing to do with fares or how the system is running right it's not our faults but unfortunately we are the first to the public sees and when they're accept we get it some people are not nice I've learned a lot more about some of the frustrations of being an operator that passenger complaints that she needs to listen to you really do need a thick skin good afternoon yard control permission to come in to the yard and unfortunately a lot of the public doesn't understand exactly what we do it's not just driving a train subway operators train for 31 days Karen gets one this state-of-the-art simulator will allow her to spin her wheels in a safely controlled environment this is very exciting clear this is feeling kind of fast you only slow down when you see the six marker that means that you're going to break no there it is there it is right now so I put on the brakes with 800,000 subway riders each day drivers can't afford to make this kind of mistake an accident could be catastrophic Oh brakes now so you can open the doors okay oh you're hungry oh it's green okay so here we go okay it's a bracelet now what I need to do this not gonna be emergency brake Oh what's going on here I know it's fast okay even when you're in a simulator even when it's a safe environment you realize how complicated it is to drive a subway and seeing Amy operate the vehicle this morning and has given me a much better appreciation for the responsibilities that operators have everyday it's a lot different when it's obviously it's the real rails but police gives her an idea of what to expect things happen that you know you've got overcome so what's been your hardest day the hardest day for me was when I come into the station I'd saw the person he backed up and he ran up into the air and he jumped as a committed suicide in front of my train oh my god II thought that was a hard day for me no the worst thing for me was when I made eye contact cuz he hit once then the second time and he looked at me he went under he had certain his features like my son and I'm thinking oh that really yeah we're shocked just sat on the platform floor and I just sobbed I wouldn't moved until uh he's two passengers came to get me one of the ladies was cleaning my face there's giving me water I like I was in like I'm in shock right I guess you think of you know what could have stopped sooner so how did you deal with that person a member so we're lucky that we have a company that they look after the employees when it comes to that like you know special therapists and all that and that they're really hope they're gonna make sure we're okay before we go out there when Amy told me her story I felt just really amazement at her courage and a sense of sadness that she had to see that just because she came to work that day I was glad to hear from Amy that the TTC does offer support services through the company another initiative that we're doing is launching the suicide prevention link where people in distress can call and get instant access to a therapist or someone that can help them if they're in distress it's important for me to share my story this way people understand there's many more things in life that you've got overcome who makes you stronger ctc chair karen stints has gone undercover in her own organization posing as a trainee being taped for a documentary with the commission facing bad press and budget cuts karen might have to swing the axe today she's working at the Harvey shop where costly repairs on TTC vehicles are carried out she wants to see if there's a cheaper alternative as we go through our budgetary process and we need to make decisions around where we might be making cutbacks it's important for me to know at the front line the kinds of services that we provide to fix our streetcars and buses when they have been vandalized through the fitti or other means so under the guidance of Tony the chair of the TTC is going undercover to recover chairs for the TTC thank you all these inserts that we're rebuilding are either damaged from graffiti or they've been slashed so what we essentially do is remove these the skin of material want to try and keep the foam is entire dose possible and when you pull it like this you see how that comes clean okay that's what you want so the whole idea is to recycle these why'd you give this a try just pull it right across if you're how about how many seats do you reupholster each week say a hundred seats on average 100 seats a week personally myself really the Harvey shop reupholster is about 26,000 seats a year had a cost of over five million dollars so what would you recommend us as a deterrent against graffiti and vandalism well I think the educational approach I think that's the best way because if people don't actually understand it do anything about it you know ultimately whatever it costs the Commission it costs the passenger we all ride on the system myself I'm finding this to be quite a bit of work and it's very labor-intensive it's been fabulous working with Tony he's a great teacher he takes great pride in his work what I love about my job essentially is knowing that these seats on these units look brand-new when I'm done with them Tony made an excellent suggestion for an ad campaign to educate the public on how much it cost the system when these seats are damaged or vandalized because ultimately it costs everybody so you mentioned some you have a family um married so what do you guys like to do in your spare time oh I was fourth but any other type of sports take them up the American teams that I pretty much followed a dream Bay Packers my husband likes Packers and Patriots 12 great teams so what's it like to work at the distances wonderful been here for about 27 years everything I've done here with joy so if I'm happy that's all that matters right good for you also now it's back to work Caryn's put them behind schedule so she better find herself a seat so what you essentially doing you just want to line it up when you drop it bring it over here hydraulic press you grab the material like this pulling up lightly and you're dropping the materials adhesion remove this and brush it off and it'd be easier if you actually worked on the other side that's okay do you know what you know at that point yet sorry that's fine and then just drive it home so let's see very good there you go overall nothing that can't be adjusted as we go along trust me today being undercover was fun and this entire experience has been about learning that I could push myself and I could learn new things Tony who has great ideas if we could educate the public on the cost of vandalism in the system we wouldn't have to raise fares and we can manage with our budget constraints it's one of the ideas that I will be taking back to senior management and to my colleagues so that we can promote it gotta take a lot of pride in my work period and when it leaves my desk I know that well that's in that car I got phosphor that streetcar keeper in a gold that's the nice seat I can sit in that seat Karin returns to her low-budget motel this will be her third night away from her family how are you good how the kids yeah oh my god has been exhausting ya know I miss you guys I miss you a lot well tell the kids I love them I'll see you soon baby I love you too coming up Karen gives herself the runaround and later she finds the job particularly hard to grasp in a town that loves nothing better than a trash talk the TTC Karen stints is determined to find out if the rumors are all rubbish as she heads into her third day undercover when the TTC is dirty or looks rundown those are the first comments that I receive and so I think it is very important that we do keep the TTC clean this morning she'll be wiping down on the front line with Newfoundland born Sylvia the custodian of Victoria Park station so right now I'm just doing my dusting in that great sure can so you've been here for a couple years I've been in the maintenance section for over 24 years really long time that's great workers like Sylvia disposed of 500 kilos of garbage every day mostly composed of paper cups newspapers and cigarette butts filth that's a potential fire hazard and with budget cuts looming there's speculation of some jobs being out sourced what's the weirdest thing you've ever found oh you know what you find it everything to be honest some of its pretty gross too I see I see a gentleman see him to the side okay stand off to the side and allow the customers to go first Sylvie has a great customer service focus even when we were sweeping the stairs she made sure she always stepped aside to let the customers come down first pile of garbage Sarah if I see at the public season that's the way I look at it and when I leave at the end of the day the station looks good it makes me feel good a little bit up here probably yeah you're Nate no corners which isn't very nice but it happens okay people talking about the TTC not being clean they should come to this station yes good I got payload up here is there anything you find frustrating about the job yeah when you're doing your job and you'll see people throw stuff on the floor on purpose in front of you you know as you're working they'll spit the gum on the floor but there's nothing you can do about it it is frustrating sometimes but if they weren't throwing the garbage around the making a mess I wouldn't have the job the way I looked at it I've been verbally abused if they have a bad day at home they take it out on me because I'm the first person they see when they come through the door so I just go with the flow on a situation like that you have to know well I was born in new flat oh yes you ever get back to me no no I wanted to go this year but my sister couldn't get the time off so your sisters still there yes okay you next year maybe next year I'm hoping so does she get to come here to see you or no no I haven't seen each other for a few years now so it would be nice I wanted to go this year but I couldn't so so do you have any advice for me on this job the best advice I can give you do you go you don't do it to the best of your ability and always keep yourself busy okay that way your job goes fine okay thank you no problem no problem after a light break it's time for some heavy machinery we just turned the machine on okay you see here turtle turtle okay that's as slow as they can go and rabbit is this fast as they can go here we go just like example yo-yo so if you want to give it a try I'll turn it down my first day on the job tell me what was your best day on the job the day I got hired be honest with you I knew then that I have a job with the future I think that's why I still appreciate my job every day there's potential for abuse from a disgruntled public who target frontline employees like Sylvia Sylvia is great I think the one thing that did surprise me was that she does take some abuse on occasion and it's too bad that sometimes the customers don't realize the valuable job that she does so I think it is very important that writers understand that our ability to keep the system clean really relies on them as well I would be surprised to see anyone doing the job better than Sylvia you can't have better servants when you have employees who care as much as she does it's 8 p.m. and under-covered boss Karen is on her way to her last assignment at the TTC she'll join the night team responsible for cleaning and refueling the buses called the sunset crew because their day begins when almost everyone else's is ending I'm on my way right now to work my first night shift and learn a bit more about how they get the buses cleaned to get ready to go into service the next day the TTC is under constant scrutiny but unfortunately it's under a pile of rubbish feedback recently that our buses aren't as clean as the public expects them to be so I'm looking forward to learning about the job that the sunset crew does Karen will be working with Carmen who's been working nights for seven years take it to the wash rack servicing washing hi Ruth yes Beck yeah hi how are you nice to meet you to meet you this is Carmen Miller hi Carmen alright he is going to take you around show you the ropes show you where everything is all right thank you so what are we gonna be doing today thank you everything you don't want to it's a tough job about is this talking it's called service person to be clean the buses you fuel the buses and check all the and how long is your shrimp you said ten hours and hours Carman and the rest of the sunset crew service 250 buses and dispose of 500 kilos of trash every night so what happens bus is gonna come through those doors either one here and stop here the guys will be sweeping the inside of the bus we'll do that later okay Carmen will walk Karyn through each task before handing it off for her to try as the buses roll in one after another Carmen's got to get it right because every one of them will be carrying passengers come the morning rush hour Carmen will fill up the gas tank check the oil engine coolant and the transmission and brake fluid cleaning at least 40 vehicles every night she's on a time crunch just 15 minutes of bus to keep the fleet in top shape with only a short break between the incoming busses this is beginning to look like a top ten hours now it's Karen's turn to try her hand at gassing up and it's not as easy as Carmen makes it look the TTC fills the fleet up with 240 thousand litres of diesel every night now to check the oil on to the coolant and transmission fluids cuz it'll spray to my face yes okay yeah there's no question is physically demanding you're throwing out trash you're filling up a gas tank checking the oil lifting up channels I got a good enough you're expected to to do that again and again and again to get all the buses through oh my god good lord nothing Grauman's fabulous she is very positive power she's a wonderful personality a very chatty person happy person she like your boobies dog clearly is dedicated to her job and easy to work okay the pace is unrelenting and Karen can barely keep up with the high octane Carmen which is the most important thing about being successful at CPC you got to know how to joke the people get along with everybody though the sunset crew works to exhaustion night in and night out it's not easy to stay ahead of the complaints from the public patients have fatigue see I think it's driven by what they hear in the media they're gonna port but the bad ones levity to see out there they need to put the good points too people need to appreciate that we're able to get the buses out on the street there we go we're not perfect we're not machines but then we're trying our hardest next filling all those buses up brakes careened down it's 3:00 a.m. on Karen's final night undercover at the TTC and she's struggling to keep up as the relentless engine that is Carmen after eight hours on the job things are finally gearing down so how long have you been doing the night shift for seven years I've been doing nights I have to do nights I have three parents or you know 70 and older my grandmother my mother my father and they're all sick oh my god oh they stay with him yeah so I have to do doctor's appointments all those countries have to be home during day her mom she's been battling psychological problems my mom - yeah your tubes exactly it must be difficult to care for three people and you know what though there are people in this world who have a heck of a lot harder than I'm ever gonna have it honestly the hardest part of the job is that I would like to sit down with Carmen and actually tell her who I really am she made a comment that we're living parallel lives and in many ways we are I feel a little uncomfortable because she is sharing with me so openly and yet I feel like I'm holding back from her and it's the first time actually being undercover that I felt that I would have rather sat next to Carmen ask him oh we have a dirty bass yes it's filthy dirty so you could be a bus driver on the street you know I'd go back to school taking courses and things so I get my way up for plea and my last ten years of the management oh good they'll call you into the office not me all right but you know at least you leave a clean bus and that's really important yeah I wish the people that rode the bus left to clean bus oh this is nothing you should see when they leave french fries are rice rice is my favorite who does everybody Oh No how many buses if we do a thousand you're lucky you did Tim what's your quote up 36 really yeah sound like a lot okay so we're good to go all right hey this is the fun part I mean you're a trooper thank you soon after a year or two and you've been doing this job for too long when we were pulling the bus in he said you you'd go back to school if you could would you go back to school oh yeah no what would you take fine take management I just put it on the back burner because ultimately you have to put more money in the household pursue pursue dreams no just put more money in the house with it got a lot of weight on your shoulders it's just the way the world is okay I'm ready to go home okay Ruth did pretty good for a newbie this was on her own she would've died okay she really wanted to do it I'm sure she could do it just fine but I think that there is other places and they were gonna do a station where they get her out of her and she'd be happier Thanks maybe Abby Kurin TTC employee one day baby yeah my boss probably the most impressive thing about Carmen is how much she has to balance at home and the job she doesn't work she's managing a 10-hour shift at night cleaning 40 buses a night and it's hard work I'm exhausted it's 6:00 a.m. and Karen's finished the overnight shift and her time working undercover it's really amazing how my life and Carmen's life have been so similar we're really sort of leading parallel lives and it makes me think about how much I miss my wonderful family the stresses of long hours working undercover have finally caught up with Karen and she wants to see her family again my experience going undercover was very positive today my last day as being undercover was actually the hardest because Harmon was sharing with me experiences and their stories that they may not have felt comfortable sharing had they known I was the chair the most important thing I learned is how much pride and commitment our employees have to customer service and how the media often portrays employees very differently than from how they see themselves coming up Karen returns to her job as chair and reveals her true identity to the employees how will they react when they find out the person they trained is actually their boss after working undercover Karen stances flipped her wig and tossed off her nose ring ready to get back to business at CTC headquarters this UTC has been under criticism in a number of areas one with cleanliness some with customer service and as we're going through the difficult exercise and budget reductions and finding out ways to have the system run more effectively it's given me a new perspective now it's time for the TTC chair to report to her associates what I learned this past week is that we have exceptionally dedicated employees so what we need to do is make sure that message gets out yep and I think there's things that we can do to educate the public on how they can help us keep our cost low as we do our work they can help us as well their bus is out there now with seats upholstered by a Kerr instance Tony does 22 chairs in a day I did one the workers whom entered her this week have been summoned to head office they're anxious to find out why and a big surprise is on the way thanks for coming down thank you Oh for crying out loud so my name is Karen stone I don't you work oh that's a doozy but no idea was you you had me fooled so I when I went undercover for a week because I wanted to learn firsthand about the work that you guys do so I'm very grateful to you that you shared with me some of this some of the hardships and some of the sacrifices that she's made I'm also I was very moved by the story that you shared with me and so I wanted to acknowledge like that meant to me and so we've arranged that Bombardier is going to give a $5,000 donation to the crisis link hotline into the distress Center and your name so that there is a way for people who are in distress to get the helpful thing well I don't know what to say in addition to that because you shared with me the time that you spent away from your family we've arranged for a trip to New York sponsored by Porter Airlines Wow I knew this was gonna happen and it's my hope and why I did what I did was I hope that the world can see what I saw working alongside you so thank you Wow it's a lot for me to take in actually that's all anyone wants and in life was to be appreciated them donating that money that's that means a lot to me on that New York trip I plan to take the subway that's exciting for me I want to say that I was so impressed by your skills and your dedication and you talked to me about the importance of a public awareness campaign absolutely and so I was wondering if you could help us well because it was your idea and I think it's a great idea if you help us educate the public on the cost of vandalism and graffiti in the system sure and I know you're a bit of a sports fan yes I am so there's something else I'd like to offer you but I've got someone special here today guys doing nice to meet you Ellie how you doing I'm Willie pile free safety with the Toronto Argonauts I wanted to present you with an authentic toronto argonauts number 10 Jersey I will apologize just wow oh well thank you very much really you're very welcoming there's awesome I wanted to personally invite you to the hundredth breakup being played right here in Toronto next year 2012 you wanna guess tickets as a guest of ours well thank you very much I accept the invitation the thing I'm most excited was obviously needed Willie pile and on top of it to be invited to the hundredth anniversary of a golf game how could you ask for more public service messages or encouragement of the public I'm a little bit of nervous but you know overall I'm looking forward to it it's a it's quite the challenge but I want to thank you so much and you really exemplify all that um the TTC is thank you very much no I appreciate that I really do and I know that you mentioned that some you had a vacation plan with your sister yeah dad is I've arranged for you to fly out to Newfoundland to see your sister and we called her employer no way yeah and we got her some time off no you're kidding no no oh no way yeah a lot cuz I haven't seen her since before we lost our moms oh no it's great it really is thank you so much I appreciate it thank you for the work that you do I'm still in shock it's amazing feeling though finding out that I get to see my sisters probably the best and it was cool that Karin got to try my job to see what my jobs really what it's really like when we're out there current working with you in the night shift was honestly the hardest work I've ever done it was fun though it was mine it was fun but I don't know how you do it I really don't you don't think I'm just doing but not only do you work hard and you said we live we live parallel lives we do we do in my mom my mom has mental illness and my dad lives with me okay and so all of that was true so what I've been able to do is arrange for you to have a part-time caregiver oh they'll help you ease the burden at home a little bit oh my gosh ants or something that I'd like to do you mentioned that you want to go back to school yes so I've arranged for a scholarship for you for York University Oh for $8,000 oh my god and so there's one of the things I make you spend so much time looking after other people I wanted to be able to give you and they don't so we've got red carpet tickets Oh China International Film Festival and we had a celebrity stylist Brian Bailey Oh who's gonna be there to give you a makeover and pamper You oh they used her to know what it feels like to be taken care of and personally I want to thank you I want to thank you on behalf of the Commission because the public will get a chance to know that we have employees like you in our system and I think it's really gonna change the perception of the TTC ruling is the best gift out of everything if she had stopped with the schooling I would have been just as happy but I do know I feel bad for laughing at my boss's boss's boss I really do and I'm happy so good job

Channel: Reality

Views: 574,704

Rating: 4.6679201 out of 5

Keywords: Undercover Boss Full Episode

Id: qp79qjK20tM

Length: 44min 34sec (2674 seconds)

Published: Fri Jan 03 2014