Abusive calls and threats not tolerated, Okanagan road clearing crews warn

It appears to have been a rough start to winter for the employees of AIM Roads, which took to their social media account this weekend to set some boundaries while their crews got busy with clearing snow.

"Our employees do their best under very challenging conditions and deserve to be treated with dignity and respect," reads the post.

"Use of profanity, yelling, threats and other abuse will not be tolerated."

Calls to the communication centre are recorded and logged, abusive calls will be terminated immediately and threats are forwarded to the RCMP, the post reads.

"Our social media pages provide factual, accurate and timely information reported directly from employees working in the field or through the use of technological feedback loops such as dash cams, GPS and remote weather monitoring on maintenance units. We welcome and accept constructive feedback but the posts are designed to be informative, not spark debates or discussion. Inappropriate posts are deleted as required," reads the post from AIM put on their Facebook page.

"The AIM Communication Center's responsibility is to relay issues, concerns and comments to the crews operating in the fields. The supervisors in the field utilize their considerable expertise to allocate resources based on the priority and safety of the traveling public and the requirements of the maintenance agreement. Please respect our employees and give them the time and space required to do their jobs."

A call centre employee said that further information about this post would be possible to get on Monday.

AIM was awarded a 10-year contract for highway maintenance for the Okanagan-Shuswap starting April 1 2019.


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Kathy Michaels

Kathy Michaels has been an Okanagan-based journalist for more than a decade, working for community papers along the valley and beyond.
She’s won provincial and national awards in business, news and feature writing and says that her love for telling a good story rivals only her fondness for turning a good phrase.
If you have a story that deserves to be told in a thoughtful and compassionate manner, don’t hesitate to reach out.
To reach Kathy call 250-718-0428 or email kmichaels@infonews.ca.

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