Inspectors represented by OPSEU are employed by the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA), responsible for administering and enforcing the Technical Standards and Safety Act and its regulations on behalf of the Government of Ontario. 170 inspectors – represented by Toronto-based OPSEU Local 546 for more than a year and seeking their first contract – have been on strike across Ontario since July 21. There are 12 safety inspectors represented by OPSEU in Northern Ontario, two in Sault Ste. Mary. The two Sault superintendents were joined by local and regional OPSEU officials at Wednesday’s rally. Inspectors working for the TSSA are responsible for inspecting elevators, amusement park machines, ski lifts, boilers, pressure vessels, nuclear power plants and pipelines. “Our employer, TSSA, walked away from the bargaining table and refuses to return to the bargaining table. We are concerned about maintaining our pay and benefits. We’ve made cuts to all our services and benefits, and senior executives get raises and bonuses every year, and meanwhile we’ve taken 0.9 percent over three years,” said Adam Wells, TSSA’s field safety inspector based in Sturgeon Falls. and member of OPSEU Local 546, speaking to SooToday. “This employer has become very resistant and anti-union and uses a lot of union busting techniques when these people just want to get back to work and protect the public. We’re asking for more inspectors and scheduled regular inspections, and I think everyone in Ontario would like to see that happen,” said Tara Maszczakiewicz, OPSEU regional vice-president, Region 6. Wednesday’s rally came after a fire over the weekend at the Sault’s Propane Depot, as reported earlier. “We will verify that any equipment is still safe to operate and we cannot verify whether this has been done or not. That large storage tank that is there may not be safe to operate,” said local inspector Mark Bernard, referring to the propane storage incident over the weekend. There were other incidents at Canada’s Wonderland and Upper Canada Village while inspectors were on strike, Wells said, inspectors concerned about safety at Toronto’s upcoming CNE festivities. Local inspectors work at Algoma Steel as well as Searchmont, gas and propane stations and other locations. “Anyone who comes into a business to do TSSA inspection work is a scab and we don’t know what their qualifications are and probably neither is the public … we can’t do our job without an agreement,” Maszczakiewicz said, although the workers stated that they were not aware of such inspections being carried out. TSSA, on its website, said it has offered inspectors “excellent health, dental and retirement benefits and salary increases for a multi-year agreement.” However, Wells said “what TSSA has proposed to us is a 14-year pay increase program based on performance…but if your boss doesn’t like you, you don’t get a raise or they want to demote you back to the previous pay range. If they do it twice, they have written that they want to be able to fire that inspector without repercussions. It’s just ridiculous.” Wells said inspectors have had their benefits cut and benefit providers changed since the TSSA was established under Mike Harris’ Progressive Conservative government in the 1990s. Wells added that female inspectors are underpaid compared to their male counterparts. Local inspectors Mark Bernard and Alan Pawelek said the respect for the inspectors is deserved because they worked as essential service workers during COVID. “They needed us as an essential service during COVID, but now we are just pawns, we are nothing to them. On March 1 the orders expired and now as inspectors we are forced to strike,” Bernard said.
