There appears to be no end in sight to the strike by Ontario’s driving examiners, now heading into the 10th week, as frustration continues to grow for would-be motorists and driving school owners try to cope with dismal enrollment numbers and dwindling profits.

United Steelworkers Local 9511, which represents the striking workers, and Serco DES, the company contracted out by the Ontario government to run the DriveTest centres, sat down at the bargaining table with a provincial mediator again this weekend.

Local union president Jim Young said the employer submitted a final offer and members are set to vote on it later this week, but the results aren’t expected to be good.

“The bargaining committee has voted unanimously against the agreement,” he told CityNews.ca Monday. He refused to comment on details of the offer.

Driving examiners walked off the job Aug. 24 leaving thousands of people hoping to get their licence in the lurch, including Toronto-area mother Kim Latrielle who, at 42, finally decided to get her permit this year.

“I just kind of worked it out on my fingers, that whole G1, G2 thing, because I thought okay, then I can have my licence for next summer,” she said.

“I was all raring to go ... and then they went on strike and they’re still on strike.”

The lengthy job action is more than an annoyance for some driving schools that have been forced to lay-off staff and reduce hours.

Driving Schools Feeling The Pinch

Chris Casimiro, owner of the New Drivers Driving School on College Street, near Ossington Avenue, said his typically low winter season will be even harder to weather this year thanks to the job action.

“Lots of people are holding back from doing lessons, taking courses because they’re saying there’s no point [until the strike ends],” he said.

“There’s bills to be paid but no money coming in, so it’s kind of tough.”

Casimiro said he’s had to cut staff hours, and Natalie Maier, owner of the Four Seasons Driving Schools in Chatham and Tilbury had to lay-off some employees.

“[First it’s] receptionists and then after that … it will be instructors,” she said.

“It’s hurting us big time.”

Before the strike Maier's 30 spots per class sold out fast. Now she’s lucky to get four or five pupils per session.

She's organized a bus trip later this month to Toronto for nearly 150 would-be students to a provincial office on Bay Street that is the only location in the province offering the G1 written test. That location is run by the province, not DriveTest.

Seniority and Job Security Issues

Issues surrounding job security and seniority continued to be a sticking point in negotiations, Young said last week. The union is concerned about the reduction of full-time employees as demand for driving exams peaks in the summer months and staff hours are dramatically reduced through the winter.

Paul Dalglish, managing director of DriveTest, said the employment offered is much like any other seasonal position.

“We explain the seasonality, we say ‘that’s the employment we’ve got, that’s what our business is, are you interested?’ and they say yeah, and then later on they’re saying 'I want to work 37 and a half hours every week of the year' and it’s like, we don’t have that work, that’s not what our business is,” he explained.

Young says DriveTest has already “substantially” reduced full-time staff.

“We’re just trying to protect what full-time jobs we have left,” he said.

“[DriveTest] would like to basically have also part-time people, work them full-time hours in the summer only to reduce their hours in the winter if not lay them off.”

Young said during the peak eight-week season, between 50,000 and 75,000 people write or perform their G1 and G2 licence tests.

• If your licence expired after the strike started on August 24th because you were unable to take a test, the expiry date has been automatically extended until after the strike ends and DriveTest has had a chance to catch-up on the backlog. For more information, click here.

shawne.mckeown@rci.rogers.com