DriveTest centres across Ontario will be closed Monday after negotiations between the examiners’ union and their employer came to a halt on Friday evening.
The strike probably won’t be over in one day, a senior union official has said.
“The way this employer has conducted themselves, I suspect it will take some time,” said Marie Kelly, assistant director of local 9511 of the United Steelworkers (USW).
The employer, Serco DES Inc. — which acquired the right to provide driver examination services from the Ontario Ministry of Transportation in 2003 after the decision was made to privatize the service — was the first to leave the bargaining table after about 54 hours of continuous negotiations that began Wednesday in Toronto.
The talks between USW and Serco DES Inc. began after their collective agreement expired in March.
DriveTest examiners started striking sporadically around 2:30 p.m. Friday although talks between the two groups didn’t conclude until 6:30 p.m. that evening. “Our members were fed up with the employer not coming to the table and addressing their specific needs,” said Kelly.
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The union wants a wage increase of two per cent each year for the next two years, and 2.5 per cent in the third year, said Kelly. But the key point of contention, according to the USW, is the lack of job stability for examiners. The USW said Saturday that DriveTest hires a mass amount of examiners in the spring and lays them off for the fall.
“There’s an uncaring attitude; it’s like people should be happy to work for DriveTest,” said Kelly. “It’s a mentality where the company thinks, when we want them to work we want them to be here, and when we don’t need them we want them to go home.”
Three pickets were set up on Saturday near Toronto at the Brampton, Etobicoke and Port Credit DriveTest centres, which are usually open on Saturday. Picket lines are expected to start Monday morning in Ottawa at the Walkley Road and Canotek Road locations.
An Ottawa driving school said the closings will be a big problem for business and an inconvenience for would-be drivers.
The strike will be a major hassle for an Ottawa Driving School client — a woman eight months pregnant with a test scheduled on Tuesday — according to the school’s owner, Ray Frendo. She lives outside the city and is staying with her mother until she can drive. She already has a car waiting in her driveway.
The school has 19 instructors, many of whom pick up drivers-in-training prior to exams, give an hour-long session to calm nerves, and then head to the test centre.
“It’s going to effect us tremendously,” said Frendo. “But I also understand the point of view of the DriveTest examiners. They’re not being treated very well by their company.”
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