Fisheries minister calls CAW objections to Coast Guard radio cutbacks "misleading"
Fisheries Minister Keith Ashfield late Wednesday issued a statement calling objections by the CAW to an overtime ban at Coast Guard radio, "misleading."
The safety of Mariners is our top priority and we would not implement any policies that would put lives at risk.
As a result of a risk assessment and workload study, in which the CAW participated, the Coast Guard is reducing the number of overtime hours for employees at Marine Communications and Traffic Services Centre to reflect the actual workload at any given time.
While the union tries to portray this as shortsighted, the fact is that this approach has already been in use successfully in Victoria and Quebec for about 5 and 10 years respectively and the Coast Guard is simply now expanding this approach on a national level.
There will be no jobs lost as a result of the implementation and mariners will continue to receive the same level of service they currently receive.
Like any responsible organization, we must ensure that we use our resources wisely. Canadians do not want to be paying for unnecessary or unproductive overtime.
