Disgruntled commuters will have a chance to vent their frustrations at a series of town hall meetings being set up by the TTC, according to the head of the public transit union.

However, Bob Kinnear also had some harsh words for the public and the media who have in recent weeks broadcast embarrassing photos and videos of staff members napping on the job or taking extended breaks.

The unwanted publicity came to a head over the weekend as angry workers suggested they begin a work-to-rule campaign.

On Tuesday Kinnear responded, telling the public to show staff members some respect.

"Listen people, stop harassing people who are doing their jobs," Kinnear told a news conference Tuesday. "Stop insulting them. Stop waving camera phones in their face. Stop spitting on them. Stop calling them lazy and overpaid."

Kinnear said the TTC's front-line workers are subject to more public assault than any other group of workers in the city even though they are not to blame for fare hikes, service shortages or other causes of customer dissatisfaction.

He also blasted TTC management for publicly reprimanding workers in the face of public criticism and suggested they should take responsibility for making poor decisions that anger transit users.

However, Kinnear ended the news conference on an optimistic note, telling the media that the union wants to improve its relationship with commuters.

"As a union we acknowledge that there are things we can do as workers to improve customer experience. We acknowledge that some people may need customer service training. We are human beings and so are the customers we serve. We want a better releationship with customers because quite frankly its been hell for us out there," he said.

He said town hall meetings would be held across the city at convenient times in accessible locations so that "rank and file workers can talk and meet users to discuss how we can work together to improve services."

"We will be prepared to listen to constructive criticism and take it to heart," he said. "We will listen to customer complaints if they are presented in a reasonable way and if we are given the courtesy of giving a courteous reply."

The details of the town hall meetings have yet to be announced. Kinnear said he will be releasing that information in the coming weeks.