Deadline extended for meal allowance lawsuit

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SAINT JOHN, N.B. — More than 1,000 long-haul truckers from coast to coast are launching a class-action suit against the Canada Customs and Revenue Agency over meal allowances.

Long-haul truckers can claim only 50 per cent of $33, or $16.50 per day, as their meal allowance and receipts must be produced. The allowance has not changed from the current rate of $33 per day since the early 1990s.

The lawyer handling the lawsuit, Tom Johnston of Summerland, B.C., said he was approached by a group of truck and bus drivers and started searching for at least 500 people to sign on.

As of the end of October, he had collected 1,047 drivers. He said he has plaintiffs signed up in every province.

Ralph Boyd, president of the Atlantic Provinces Trucking Association, says there are about 250,000 truck drivers across the country.

“If you stop at any truck stop along our roadways today and try to get yourself a nutritious meal, $16.50 might cover one meal,” Boyd says.

The deadline for joining in the lawsuit is now Nov. 30.

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