FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
September 15, 2006
MTO must fill truck
inspector vacancies, union says
TORONTO – It’s time for the
Ministry of Transportation of Ontario to fill dozens of vacant
positions for provincial truck inspectors, the Ontario Public
Service Employees Union says.
“Government numbers at the end
of June 2006 show 280 Transportation Enforcement Officers on
the job,” said John O’Brien, chair of the OPSEU committee for
MTO. “Two years before that, there were 318. We estimate that
the real number of vacancies is over 60.”
O’Brien made the comments after
an Oakville woman was killed by a flying truck tire last night
on the Queen Elizabeth Way.
“If we learned anything from
the Walkerton Inquiry, it’s that cuts to an inspection and
enforcement system create the conditions in which bad things
happen,” said O’Brien. “For the sake of public safety, those
positions must be filled,” he said.
OPSEU has commented frequently
on truck safety since 1995, drawing attention to the truck
inspector vacancies last year.
“MTO has been bogged down in a
review of its truck safety operations for 18 months,” said
O’Brien. “It’s time to stop studying the problem and start
fixing it.”
For recent OPSEU news
releases on this issue, visit:
Oct. 7, 2005: “Hearses
roll as government fails to curb truck-related deaths”
http://www.opseu.org/news/Press2005/oct072005.htm
Oct. 6, 2005: “Don’t
cut on-road truck safety enforcement, union warns McGuinty”
http://www.opseu.org/news/Press2005/oct062005.htm
Sept. 22, 2005:
“Ontario truck inspections saved 122 lives last year: union”
http://www.opseu.org/news/Press2005/sept222005.htm
Sept. 9, 2005: “Higher
fuel costs put pressure on truck safety: OPSEU”
http://www.opseu.org/news/Press2005/sept092005.htm
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For more information:
John O’Brien (807) 628-4364
