FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE August 9, 2005
Police have plenty
to do without doing our work: OPSEU transportation staff
Unionized workers at the
Ministry of Transportation are wondering aloud why expensive
police time is being dedicated to commercial motor vehicle
enforcement, a job that MTO transportation enforcement
officers (TEOs) are specifically trained to perform.
Each holiday weekend, news
stories across the GTA feature police reports about road
safety issues ordinarily -and more economically- handled by
Ministry officers.
“This is an attempt to download
costs onto police budgets, which the public is less likely to
question – but it is ultimately costing taxpayers far more,”
said OPSEU President Leah Casselman.
“Last week, a Mississauga
newspaper reported that Caledon OPP and Peel Regional Police
conducted a road safety blitz, targeting unsafe commercial
motor vehicles on Ontario’s highways,” noted Joe Daniel,
spokesperson for OPSEU local 506, representing GTA area TEOs.
As well, the OPP now has a
fleet of newly decaled pickup trucks with the words
“Commercial Vehicle Safety and Enforcement” on the sides and
rear. “Between the police officer’s time, training time, and
the specialized equipment and vehicle, this is a lot to pay
when the Ministry already has TEOs trained, and equipped to do
the job at just over half the cost,” he added.
“The police have enough to do
to protect the public from violent crime, theft and other
criminal matters, which they do very well. So they should
entrust the enforcement of commercial vehicle enforcement to
our members, who are specifically trained to do the job, and
who provide that service effectively and efficiently,” said
Daniel.
In 1998, as part of road safety
enhancement, the province hired eighty additional MTO officers
to provide the resources for commercial vehicle enforcement.
Now in 2005, MTO has a vacancy rate of about 20-25 per cent.
“Why are these positions not being filled?” Daniel asks.
For more information,
contact:
Joe Daniel, President, OPSEU
local 506: tel: 416-845-6849
David Cox, OPSEU Communications 416-443-8888 x 8314
