Hearst MNR employees launch
bottle drive to raise cash for ministry vehicles
Frustrated employees of the Ministry of
Natural Resources in Hearst will launch a month-long, bottle-return
drive on March 1 to raise enough money to keep their enforcement
vehicles in operation.
Local government employees and members of
the public are invited to drop off empty wine and spirits bottles
outside the Government of Ontario offices at 613 Front St., Hearst,
every Thursday in March in an effort to raise money that can be used to
pay for regular expenses, like gasoline, that the government is unable
to cover thanks to dramatic cutbacks in the MNR budget.
“The situation is grave,” said Local 638
president Lyn Alary. “We shouldn’t be in the position of raising money
for our own Ministry because of its decision to cut back on funding for
a vital service like conservation enforcement. The government must
restore full funding to the MNR now.”
As elsewhere in northeastern Ontario over
the past six months, the Hearst MNR employees, who are members of OPSEU
Local 638, have been forced to take this dramatic action in a
province-wide campaign to “Save the MNR.”
The facts tell the story of severe budget
cutbacks at the MNR. The overall budget in 2006-07 is 24 per cent lower
than it was in 1992-93. This has led to cutbacks in staffing,
enforcement and equipment used by MNR employees.
Conservation officers have been forced to
abandon their enforcement vehicles and return to desk jobs because the
money available for putting gasoline in trucks, ATVs and boats has been
capped at $100 a week – considerably less than the $300 a week that was
once available.
The bottle return drive in Hearst follows
earlier action by OPSEU employees in Timmins and North Bay to raise
money for the MNR through bake sales and barbecues. Several hundreds of
dollars have been raised in a symbolic gesture to have the Ministry pay
for staples such as gasoline for enforcement vehicles.
More information:
Lyn Alary President, Local 638 Tel:
705-372-2223 705-362-4116
Greg Hamara OPSEU
Communications 416-448-7441 647-238-9933 cell
