Highways contractors receive huge bonuses despite dismal safety records

Six highways contractors received more than $1 million in bonus payments in 2008, despite repeatedly failing safety inspections for highways maintenance vehicles, the BC Government and Service Employees' Union revealed today.

Three companies - Emcon Services, Kootenay Boundary ($184,406.41); YRB, Fort George (180,674.87); and HMC, Selkirk (211,352.53) - received almost $600,000 in performance bonuses, despite having the worst record of safety violations in the province.

"It is clearly wrong for contractors to be receiving performance bonuses when they are repeatedly breaking the law," said BCGEU president Darryl Walker. "This revelation only reinforces our call for an immediate province-wide safety audit to ensure that private contractors are following the law and keeping our roads safe for our members and the travelling public."

HMC Services, which was placed on probation in 2007 for failing to properly maintain its vehicles, received a 100 per cent failure rate on follow-up inspections, despite being warned by provincial commercial vehicle safety inspectors. The company received the maximum 2 percent performance bonus at the same time as it surrendered it's Preventative Maintenance Program (PMP) certification.

Safety inspectors also uncovered widespread safety violations at Emcon Services' Trail and Grand Forks operations, noting that the company's PMP program "...is not working and has not worked for quite some time. I recommend we not renew or cancel." And yet, Emcon received nearly $185,000 in bonus payments from the BC Liberal government.

Other contractors that were sited for serious safety violations also received bonus payments, including:

• Mainroad East Kootenay (28 safety violations) - $178,000 bonus
• Cariboo Road Services South Peace (25 safety violations) - $236,000 bonus
• Mainroad Howe Sound (20 safety violations) - $147,000 bonus.

"These payouts clearly show that we need tougher standards and enforcement of highways contractors and a review of the entire Preventative Maintenance Program across the province," Walker said.

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