Union concerned about changes to Coast Guard staffing

A decision by the Canadian Coast Guard to implement best practice scheduling and avoid overtime will also reduce officers on duty at Marine Communications and Traffic Centers (MSTC), which worries the union representing the staff.

The decision, which is effective this month, will not result in job losses, but is about managing overtime.

"It's not a move to reduce staff. I don't see an impact to the community," said Susan Steele, regional director of maritime services for the Canadian Coast Guard's pacific region. "Coast Guard's top priority is maritime safety and we wouldn't do anything to compromise maritime safety which is important to your community."

The local MCTS centre is located in Ucluelet. It has a total of 17 officers when fully staffed.

According to regional director of CAW Local 2182 Allan Hughes, the Coast Guard centre normally has three officers on watch. One officer sits in the radar position, one on the radio position, and a supervisor. The shifts are 12-hour days and nights year-round. The decision by the Canadian Coast Guard states that in cases where someone is on leave, for any reason, the third position will not be filled.

"This poses a problem because when an incident occurs, something as simple as a vessel broken down, the information flow goes from the radio position to the rescue coordination centre," said Hughes. "A supervisor will often take initiative to pick up the phone and call the rescue centre. It's an instant flow of communication. What will transpire now is that person won't be there."

Hughes said Search and Rescue may not be notified in a timely fashion and the officer at the radar position may no longer be monitoring as they will assist to resolve the incident.

For the West Coast community, tsunami notification will be lower on the priority list of duties, Hughes said.

"Because it is so busy during initial stages of a distress incident, the resources we have, all of it is used to rectify the situation," said Hughes.

CAW Local 2182 covers five centres including Prince Rupert, Comox, Victoria, Vancouver and the local centre in Ucluelet.

There are 22 centres across Canada, 11 of which are affected, including the five in this region.

"We're twice as busy as everybody else," said Hughes.

He added the change will leave a greater impact to smaller communities, such as Tofino and Ucluelet, that may not have access to cellular service on the water or may need Coast Guard to resolve an incident.

"[Coastal communities] use lots of passenger vessels. Our life blood is on the water [with] whale watching, marine vessels, transport to other communities, without the Coast Guard properly staffed, you're placing coastal communities at risk," Hughes said.

Steele said an extensive study on the workload of each centre has been undertaken regionally and nationally, identifying periods of low workload volume.

It is during those low workload periods that staff will not be filling absences by having someone else work overtime.

"We have assessed the trends in workload through looking at workload over the recent years, and we've identified these low workload periods. That's what we are basing [this] on going forward," said Steele.

Steele also said supervisors have the authority to bring staff in on overtime during low volume work time if they suspect that the workload will peak. This includes stormy weather forecasts, or a large number of vessels in the area.

The union representing the five centres in the region has written to the Canadian Coast Guard to express their concerns with the recent announcement.

"We are hoping the public will write to their M.P., Dr. James Lunney, and express their concerns about level of service being maintained and it's really a cut to a safety net that our coastal communities rely on every day up and down this coast," said Hughes.

Marine Communications and Traffic Services provide distress and safety communication, vessel traffic services and weather information, including lighthouse weather reports. The five centres handle over 3,000 marine incidents each year.

-reporter@westerlynews.ca

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THE DAILY CATCH http://fishingnews.posterous.com/union-concerned-about-changes-to-coast-guard A decision by the Canadian Coast Guard to implement best practice scheduling and avoid overtime will also reduce officers on duty at Marine Communications and Traffic Centers (MSTC), which worries the union representing the staff. The decision, which is effective this month, will not result in job l ...