MPI to continue driver testing

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This article was published 31/08/2023 (828 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Manitoba Public Insurance will resume driving tests despite the ongoing strike action, the company announced Wednesday.

According to a press release, drivers who successfully complete MPI’s comprehensive driver education program will be certified for licensure without a road test. All other class 5 drivers will be offered road tests with MPI certified driver education instructors.

“I am pleased that MPI officials are working with MPI-certified driver education instructors throughout Manitoba to resume driver testing services,” MPI chairperson Ward Keith stated in the release.

The Crown corporation says that priority will be given to those who have had appointments cancelled because of the strike action. MPI’s Registrar of Motor Vehicles will have the discretion to require no-charge retesting once the strike is over for all drivers who were licensed during the labour disruption.

MPI knowledge testing has also resumed, and customers with existing appointments are being contacted with information about where the tests will be administered, the release said.

MPI said that despite the strike, it is still able to provide service transactions, including licence renewals, new insurance policies and payments, through its broker partners.

The MPI contact centre remains open for reporting new personal injury claims, collisions claims (for non-drivable vehicles), and total thefts. For other collisions claims, customers can contact an MPI-accredited repair shop directly to arrange for estimates and repairs without calling MPI first.

According to the release, if customers who have had a vehicle estimate appointment cancelled because of the strike, they can fill out an online simplified claim reporting form on the MPI website.

The release stated that MPI continues to call on MGEU to finalize a new four-year collective agreement based on MPI’s enhanced officer, with includes general wage increased of eight per cent over four years, and a permanent wage pay step of three and a half per cent that will apply to all unionized employees.

“MPI officials are ready and willing to meet with MGEU leadership to finalize the deal already on the table, and iron out next steps for proceeding to arbitration on the issue of general wage increases beyond the eight per cent already offered,” said Keith.

On Wednesday afternoon, MGEU members at Université de Saint-Boniface reached a tentative agreement of a four-year increase of 12 per cent, which will be taken to members for a vote next week.

“This is the second group in the past week that was able to bargain a fair deal at the table,” MGEU president Kyle Ross stated in the release. “There is no reason why we can’t do that for our members at MPI. The premier just needs to lift her two per cent wage mandate for MPI, too.”

MPI workers took to the picket lines this week, triggering widespread service shutdowns across the province.

» The Brandon Sun