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'It will waste three times the manpower time to transport equipment to and from Tignish,' - Shelley Ward.
Charlottetown (26 March 2010) - The Prince Edward Island Union of Public Sector Employees (PEIUPSE/NUPGE) has started an online petition to convince the province not to move the provincial body and paint shop to rural Tignish.
"Moving the body and paint shop to Tignish will cost taxpayers significantly more than keeping the facility in Milton (another rural area)," says union president Shelley Ward.
"It will waste three times the manpower time to transport equipment to and from Tignish, and will keep equipment out of service three times longer."
Tignish is located at the northwestern tip of P.E.I., more than 150 kilometres from Charlottetown.
Ward said the move will cost the province more than $1 million at a time when the province, the smallest in Canada, is running a massive (for P.E.I.) deficit of $85 million.
Ward said moving operations to Tignish will mean that snow plows are off the roads longer in winter when equipment breaks down.
"If you consider that 90% of the equipment the body and paint shop services is located either just to the east of Charlottetown, in Charlottetown, or no further West than Summerside, then one has to wonder about the logic of moving the body and paint shop to Tignish," she said.
Ward is urging all members and the general public to support the union's petition.
NUPGE
The National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) is one of Canada's largest labour organizations with over 340,000 members. Our mission is to improve the lives of working families and to build a stronger Canada by ensuring our common wealth is used for the common good. NUPGE
More information:
Petition: Fight Against Moving Body and Paint Shop