Thank you, Mr. Chair. We welcome the opportunity to be here today.
The Union of Canadian Transportation Employees, UCTE, is the national union for most government transportation employees. With its foundations in Transport Canada, we represent government transportation workers at Transport Canada, the Canadian Coast Guard, the Transportation Safety Board, the Canadian Transportation Agency, airport workers, Nav Canada and many others. We represent government workers who we believe are foundational to the important and critical role the federal government plays in ensuring the safety and security of Canadians. UCTE members are proud of these roles and legitimately feel that it is in the public interest for government to support and nurture these critical federal jobs.
We are here today to address budgetary issues related to two issues: aviation safety and aviation inspectors, and the Canadian Coast Guard capital budgets and the Canadian Coast Guard workers.
On aviation safety and aviation inspectors, for over four years now, Transport Canada has been implementing a nationwide safety management system, known as SMS, for aviation safety. The foundation of SMS is reasonably solid insofar as it is designed to expect more safety responsibility from aviation company management and workers. If implemented properly, SMS should produce safer skies. Unfortunately, the Transport Canada SMS has become a poorly understood methodology for reducing inspector jobs and safety budgets.
Today, in a total aviation inspector complement of approximately 871 positions, there are 130 vacancies. Today, when program review wants budget cuts from Transport Canada, they're offering up aviation safety. According to the estimates, Transport Canada plans to reduce safety and security budgets by 12.5% this fiscal year and by 6.3% next fiscal year. SMS has become a code word for inspector shortages and drastically reduced safety budgets.
Budget and staffing problems are compounded by serious pay inequities between bargaining groups and by union–management confusion about the path forward for collective bargaining. Pilot inspectors, known as AOs, and non-pilot inspectors, which are TIs, do the same job, and yet there can be a 25% pay differential between the AOs and TIs in favour of the AOs. This situation is seriously compounded when transport management chooses a TI to be a team leader supervising the AOs, who make considerably more money.
We recommend a bargaining subgroup for aviation technical inspectors, immediate staffing of the vacant inspectorate positions, and an increase to the safety and security budgets by 10%. There should be no new costs associated with filling the inspector positions. These positions are already funded. A bargaining subgroup would only produce new costs if the bargaining table produced new costs.
The 10% increase in safety budgets would require additional funding of approximately $60 million annually. In recent days, senior managers at transport have communicated the need to reform Transport Canada's SMS and to realign funding priorities to ensure safety of the travelling public. It's early days, but we are hopeful that transport is choosing a new path forward. There's a long way to go, and much communication needs to take place between the management and union leadership.
Support from Canada's parliamentarians is critical if Transport Canada is going to refocus its efforts in line with the safety mission and priorities. We encourage you today to openly and publicly express support for the recommendations we are proposing.
On the coast guard, we're pleased that the government is working with the shipbuilding industry to create long-term, sustainable capital investment for naval and coast guard vessels. Under the Canada First defence strategy, the navy has achieved a long-term 30-year capital commitment. Unfortunately, this is not the case for the coast guard. Only five of the 29 vessels are funded.
With Arctic sovereignty a priority, and with an increasing security and safety role for the coast guard and its workers, a modernized and capable fleet is essential. To ensure a modernized and capable coast guard, we're asking for a long-term capital commitment for the Canadian Coast Guard. A long-term commitment is not a one-time balloon payment that could put debt and deficit reduction plans at risk.
Long-term capital investment is simply making the commitment now instead of making the commitment later and possibly when it's too late, when our increasingly aging fleet is beyond its useful life.
Capital budgets of the coast guard are already projected to rise over $5 million in 2011-12. By making a $500-million annual capital commitment now until the fleet requirements are met, the coast guard and shipbuilding industry will be able to plan, invest, and prepare for the next generation of mariners and other skilled workers.
We look forward to your questions and your support for our recommendations.
Thank you.