TORONTO — Striking inspectors are calling on Ontario Premier Doug Ford to intervene and order their employer, the Technical Standards and Safety Authority (TSSA), to return to the bargaining table as the labour disruption continues into its third calendar month.
The TSSA has been undertaking inspections by internal managers and third-party inspectors since the TSSA inspectors, members of OPSEU/SEFPO Local 546, went on strike July 21. The workers perform inspections on such systems as newly installed piping systems or pressure welders, new or modified elevators, newly installed amusements or components of nuclear plant refurbishments.
A union release stated that back-to-school time is a critical time for inspections as inspectors ensure that boilers and pressure vessels in schools, hospitals and other large institutional settings are safe.
“A handful of TSSA managers can’t do the work of 170 inspectors across the province,” said OPSEU/SEFPO president JP Hornick in a statement. “Public services depend on the safe functioning of thousands of boilers and piping systems in schools, hospitals, long-term-care homes and nuclear power plants. Who is inspecting them while the real safety inspectors are on strike?”
TSSA safety inspectors joined OPSEU/SEFPO Local 546 in 2021 and are bargaining for their first contract. The last day of negotiations was July 20; both sides accuse the other of refusing to negotiate.
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