Robbery shows need for armoured car changes

TORONTO, Aug. 22, 2014 /CNW/ - The brazen robbery of the two-person armoured car crew in a Montreal suburb underlines the need for improved safety standards in the industry.

"How many more robberies will it take before our legislators take these safety concerns seriously? These workers are being put in dangerous situations every day, and that can and must be addressed," Unifor National President Jerry Dias said.

A two-person armoured car crew was robbed in Brossard, Quebec, Thursday night by two bandits armed with guns and pepper spray and wearing Halloween masks. It is the fourth high-profile armoured car robbery in the past year, including one in February in Toronto that ended in a shootout.

Unifor has called for a national task force into safety standards in the industry, and an end to two-person crews. In a landmark ruling released earlier this year, two-person armoured car crews were declared unsafe by a federal health and safety officer after an exhaustive investigation.

"Two-person crews are nothing but a cost-saving measure that puts lives at risk, and must be stopped," Dias said.

Industry statistics show that 70‎ per cent of armoured car robberies in the last 10 years have been against two-person crews

Unifor met with federal Director General of Policing Policy Mark Potter in June to discuss safety concerns in the armoured car industry, and to push for a taskforce to look for ways to improve safety.

For a copy of Unifor's review of the armoured car industry and complete recommendations to improve its safety, go to unifor.org/safecargo.

Unifor, which represents 2,000 workers in the armoured car industry, was formed Labour Day weekend 2013 with the merger of the Canadian Autoworkers with the Communications, Energy and Paperworkers union. With more than 305,000 members, it is Canada's largest union in the private sector.

SOURCE: Unifor