Impact Services, an abatement and demolition firm sub-contracted to remove asbestos on campus, implied that it’s ultimately up to the university to decide whether to continue using Impact workers, after recently meeting with university officials to discuss allegations of impropriety made by the Local 506 union against the company.

The union, which held demonstrations on campus two weeks ago, charged Impact with using illegal, unqualified asbestos removers on campus.

“The ball is in their court,” said Impact Services VP Alan Giller. “The university has been very fair in letting us present our case…and we’ll wait the decision they see appropriate.”

Giller characterized the allegations as “a bunch of lies and half-truths,” and vigorously denied them in an Oct. 9 meeting with Director of Capital Projects Nick Zouravlioff. Giller told Zouravlioff that the charges are a payback tactic by the union for a previous failed attempt to unionize Impact.

U of T has not planned any firm date for a final decision, and will only make one as information coming in deems it appropriate. For now, the university has asked Impact to resubmit documents of qualification. Impact workers will continue to work on campus in the meantime.

University officials say they see no reason to remove Impact workers, either now or in the future. “[The university] hasn’t uncovered anything to substantiate the allegations,” said Zouravlioff. “We haven’t seen any illegal immigrants on site, so we can’t say we have.”

Impact is currently being investigated by the Workplace Safety & Insurance Board (WSIB) under suspicions of possible contravention of the Workplace Safety and Insurance Act. The investigation began after the union brought possible evidence of impropriety to the WSIB several months ago. The WSIB oversees much of Ontario’s workplace safety.

“We’ve executed a search warrant and an investigation is ongoing,” said Perry Jensen, Senior Officer of External Relations, WSIB. Part of the investigation is being conducted by the WSIB’s Security and Investigations Branch, and includes ex-RCMP officers.

Giller played down the importance of the investigation saying it was “not more or less than any other company,” and that if the allegations were true the right authorities “would [have] shut us down.

“We are still here. I’ll let that speak for itself,” he added.

Jensen, however, said such investigations are unusual. “It is not a standard procedure,” he said.

Informal talks with City of Toronto officials and other labour boards aside from the WSIB did not corroborate any evidence of misconduct, said Zouravlioff.

He added: “We don’t want to get caught in the middle…We just want to make sure things are done in accordance with [university] guidelines.”

Impact, a well known sub-contractor in the GTA, specializes in demolition and retrofit services, and has done provincial and municipal projects across Ontario. Impact has worked on the U of T campus for many years, says Giller.

A decision on the WSIB investigation is expected sometime in mid-November.