Long lineups at Ottawa DriveTest centre
Last Updated: Monday, November 16, 2009 | 2:15 PM ET
CBC News
A striking DriveTest worker hands out pamphlets to people waiting outside the reopened Canotek Road DriveTest centre. People hoping to take their driving tests at the newly reopened DriveTest centre in Ottawa faced long lineups on Friday.
Serco DES Inc., the company that manages the province's DriveTest centres, reopened its Canotek Road location on Thursday and began offering limited services normally offered by its striking workers, including:
- Written tests.
- Commercial licence road tests.
- Licence transfers for out-of-province drivers.
Rick Stallberg, who waited in line for two hours in hopes his daughter could take her G1 written test, had no sympathy for the striking workers.
"I don't really support strikes," he said. "I think they should go back to work. There's lots of other people that want a job."
The Canotek Road centre is one of six that Serco has reopened across the province.
'Lack of respect'
James DuLac, a striking worker, didn't block anyone from entering the Canotek Road centre on Friday, but said his employer was acting in bad faith.
"It's a lack of respect from the employer to open the centre right in front of the employees," he said.
"My major concern is that [if they] do business as usual, that they're not going to go back to the table to negotiate."
But Paul Dalglish, managing director of Serco DES Inc., said that's not the case.
"We've told the union we'll go back to the table any time. But we're a little bit reluctant … because other times when we've said 'let's get back to the table' they show up and table brand new demands."
Dalglish said he hopes to increase the number of services the Canotek Road centre can offer while the strike is on.
Ontario's 500 DriveTest examiners walked off the job in late August, after failing to reach a deal with Serco DES Inc. According to their union, United Steelworkers Local 9511, the main issue for employees is job security because most workers are part-time or casual.
