Driving instructors fear long, drawn-out strike
Posted By COLIN MCKIM, THE PACKET AND TIMES
Updated 5 months ago
People planning to get road tests in the near future should buckle up for a long strike, says a driving examiner on the picket line.
"I think we're going to be out for a while."
On Monday, six employees of the Orillia DriveTest centre at 405 Laclie Street sat on the dirt shoulder outside the locked examination office bearing picket signs.
DriveTest Centres across Ontario have been closed since Friday, when United Steelworkers Local 9511 members walked off the job after failing to reach an agreement with employer Serco DES Inc.
"We reached an impasse," said Serco representative Paul Dalglish.
The driving examiners, who earn $15 to $23 an hour, are seeking a 2% per year raise over three years, said part-time examiner Bill Tinslay.
But the main issue is job security with part-timers seeking guaranteed hours and more than five sick days a year.
Examiners also want the new contract to prevent supervisors from giving driving tests.
As it stands, employees work long hours in the summer and are laid off for part of the winter, said Tinslay.
He would prefer a schedule that spreads the work out more evenly through the year.
British-based Serco has provided driver exams since 2003, when the transportation ministry privatized the service in a 10-year, $114 million deal.
After the operation was privatized, wages were cut by up to $3 an hour and the cost of tests increased from $100 to $125, said one of the strikers from the Orillia office.
"People don't realize we're not government employees any more."
There are 550 examiners at 55 full-time DriveTest locations and 38 exam centres that open periodically in smaller communities.
With Ontario's driving examiners on strike, the province is granting automatic extensions for drivers' licences that normally require a test before they are renewed.
While they are closed, licences for commercial and novice drivers, and motorists 80 years of age and older will be extended for the duration of the strike.
All written and road tests have been cancelled, but regular licences may be renewed at one of the more than 270 driver and vehicle licence issuing offices.
To re-book a driving test call 1-888-570- 6110.
-- With files from CP
