`Double discipline' ruling forces city to pay staff traffic tickets: official

Edmonton taxpayers have picked up the bill for more than $21,000 in photo enforcement tickets received by drivers of city fleet vehicles over the past 11 months, but the transit union insists the policy is fair, citing two arbitration wins.

City employees haven't had to pay their own tickets since July 2021. Since then, the city says it's paid a total of $21,816 in photo radar and red light camera tickets, according to its most recent estimate this week, though that number will continue to rise.

The total includes $11,206.00 in fines issued to municipal vehicles and $10,610.00 issued to Edmonton Transit Service vehicles.

Copies of tickets from city fleet vehicles — obtained by Postmedia — showed drivers of city garbage trucks, snow plows and even photo radar vehicles were among those who racked up $15,413 in tickets between last July and the end of 2021 that were paid for by the city.

Eddie Robar, the branch manager for the city's fleet and facility services, said a June 2021 labour arbitration decision “effectively negated” the city's ability since July of last year to make drivers pay the tickets themselves.

The city-pays policy was reinforced by another arbitration ruling in February but only applies to photo enforcement tickets. Before last July, drivers had been ordered to pay their own tickets.

DOUBLE DISCIPLINE

The ruling that prompted the policy change stems from a grievance filed by the union representing ETS drivers challenging the city's prior policy that drivers themselves had to pay photo radar and red light camera fines.

Union representatives argued making drivers pay the tickets amounted to double discipline, noting that on top of the ticket fine, drivers also face city-imposed sanctions that ranged from a written reprimand to multi-day suspensions.

City representatives countered it was “a critical priority” for drivers to operate their vehicle safely and that making them pay the fine when they fail to do so was not disciplinary.

In a split decision, the three-person arbitration panel sided with the union, ruling that making drivers pay broke a “just cause” provision in the collective agreement, and ordered the city to cease collecting fines from drivers.

“The fact that an employee may be subject to both the fine and additional discipline for the same act of misconduct would amount to double discipline,” the panel's ruling reads.

The city is appealing the ruling. It says drivers remain subject to progressive discipline up to and including termination for traffic violations.

`JOBS ARE ON THE LINE'

Transit union president Steve Bradshaw welcomed the policy change, saying most drivers would prefer to pay the fine rather than face potential suspension.

“People's jobs are on the line,” he said.

“The reality is that employees driving buses for a full shift five days a week are at much higher risk than most others of making such a mistake.”

Bradshaw also noted in making drivers pay the fines, the city is essentially paying itself.

“They're just taking money out of one pocket and putting it in the other.”

Data shows transit vehicles accounted for about 25 per cent of all city fleet vehicle tickets over all of 2020 and 2021 and about onethird of the dollar value of all fines over the same period.

Mayor Amarjeet Sohi said in a statement he is aware of the situation but declined further comment.

Coun. Aaron Paquette noted the province collects just under half of the revenue from photo enforcement tickets, meaning the city loses money in paying fines for its own drivers.

“In this process, we are actually sending money to the province for no good reason.”

He says drivers that flout the law still face stiff internal penalties but understands the optics of the citypays policy look bad to the public.

“What they see is people being able to speed without consequence,” he said.

“That's not the case, but that's the impression.”