April 6, 2006
All highway management
jobs at risk as MTO gets set to sell more road work
The job of every
OPSEU member in the Highway Management Division of the
Ministry of Transportation of Ontario could be roadkill if a
new way to privatize highway maintenance goes ahead.
For several months now, MTO has been planning the launch of
its first Area Term Contract (ATC) for highway maintenance.
Unlike the current Area Maintenance Contracts, which generally
last five years and cover only basic road upkeep, the ATC will
last up to 20 years and cover not only maintenance but also
all road reconstruction and rehabilitation.
“The ATC model is structured so that contractors are
responsible for both highway repair and maintenance,
motivating them to make good long-term management decisions to
keep these roads in good condition,” MTO Assistant Deputy
Minister Mike Goodale said in a February letter. “As a result,
the ministry may be able to achieve better road conditions
sooner, which saves taxpayer dollars and delivers better
monetary value.”
A New Zealand consultant who spoke to the Ontario Road
Builders Association in February said that ATCs can save
governments “up to 25 per cent” on road maintenance costs.
“If you have the right people you can have fun, do business
and make money,” Tony Porter told the contractors.
If Cabinet approves the ATC model, the first ATCs could be up
and running around Owen Sound and Huntsville by next spring.
Bob Houston, a member of OPSEU’s MTO Enforcement and Renewal
Committee (MERC), works in Highway Management in Owen Sound.
He says MTO’s record with privatization suggests contractors
will make money from ATCs, but that’s the problem: Tax dollars
will go to private profits, not better roads.
“In 1999, the provincial auditor found that the existing Area
Maintenance Contracts were not even saving their five per cent
target,” Houston said. “The auditor said that contractors were
getting paid for extra work without tender and getting MTO
vehicles and equipment without having to bid against other
buyers.
“MTO doesn’t exactly have a stellar record,” Houston said.
“The experience of Highway 407 should make Ontarians leery
about long-term contracts with the private sector,” he added.
“The 407 sucks money out of Ontarians when they drive,”
Houston said. “ ATCs will suck money out of their pockets when
they pay their taxes.”
Sign the petition!
The members of the
OPSEU MERC for MTO are urging all OPSEU members to fight back
against the latest job-killing rip-off.
Step one is to get informed; step two is to sign their online
petition against ATCs. Go to
http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ATC_Petition to
add your voice to those who believe public oversight and
public management are the only way to go for Ontario’s
highways.
Original
authorized for distribution by Leah Casselman, president.
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April 6, 2006 Issue of
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