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February 16, 2001

Competition charges bring quick results

Labour charges filed by OPSEU on recent management competition postings have produced a settlement in less than two weeks.

The union filed charges that the employer was interfering with union administration in regard to management competitions. OPSEU’s legal representatives filed the charges with the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB) on Feb. 6, 2001.

The charges stemmed from restrictions that the Ministry placed on competitions for Operational Manager (OM) 16 positions and for Deputy Superintendents.

Since Nov. 1999, the OPSEU Corrections Ministry Employee Relations Committee has asked all of their members to step down from acting management positions. In the case of the Guelph OM16 positions, the posting was restricted to persons currently acting in management positions within the Ministry. In other words, the competitions were restricted to those persons who had not participated in OPSEU’s campaign. The Deputy Superintendent positions were also restricted to those members who were currently acting in management positions or those who had acted for six months in the previous two years, which eliminated the majority of members who heeded the MERC’s request.

“Under normal circumstances the Ministry does not impose restrictions like these,” said MERC chair Barry Scanlon. “By placing these restrictions, the Ministry was in effect punishing those who participated in a legal job action. That’s interference in the administration of the trade union, and we filed charges accordingly.”

In a settlement signed on Feb 15, 2001, the employer has agreed to re-post the Deputy Superintendent competition without the restrictions. The competition is now open to all classified and unclassified employees. The original OM16 competition for two positions at Guelph was too late to recall, however, the employer has agreed to post three additional OM16 positions at Guelph on or before Feb. 28, 2001. This competition will also be open to all classified and unclassified employees province-wide.

No Canadian companies will run Penetang superjail

No Canadian companies will be able to qualify to run the new 1,200-bed maximum-security institution in Penetanguishene, OPSEU has learned.

At a public meeting held in Midland on Feb. 9, 2001, one of the qualified bidders admitted that under the terms of the Request for Proposals (RFP), there aren’t any companies in Canada that can meet the qualifications necessary to operate the facility.

OPSEU President Leah Casselman is calling on the Ontario government to stop the sell-off of Ontario’s first superjail to a foreign company.

“U.S. and British corrections companies have a horrifying track record of escapes, murders and assaults,” Ms. Casselman said. “Why would we want to import these kind of problems, especially when our tax dollars are being used so that a foreign company can turn a profit?”

Robert Crawford, president and CEO of First Nations Protective Services of Toronto, told attendees at the Feb. 9 meeting that his company has had to affiliate with an American corrections company in order to meet the requirements. Mr. Crawford would not reveal which U.S. company is involved.

Penetang councillors ready to blow
Latest rebuff by Minister “unbelievable”

It was a reasonable and sincere request.

Penetanguishene town council was understandably upset when the RFP for the superjail was released. Virtually none of the 52 recommendations that the council put forward were included in the RFP. No explanations were given for the omissions.

Council discussed the issues at length. In the end, council decided to demand a meeting with Corrections Minister Norm Sterling, in order to discuss their concerns. To streamline the meeting, councillors reduced the number of issues to be discussed to 12 major concerns that the town wanted to address. Council even planned to travel as a group to Queen’s Park to save the Minister the trip.

So it came as a rather rude and nasty shock when, two days prior to the planned meeting, Minister Sterling sent a letter to the town offices saying sorry, I’ve got no time for you.

Ministry privatization front man Brian Low felt the wrath at the monthly Jail Liaison Committee meeting in Penetanguishene on Thurs., Feb. 15. Half of the Liaison Committee members are area councillors.

“This is completely unbelievable,” one councillor said. Another left the meeting in disgust.

Penetanguishene councillor Dan LaRose warned Low that as town representatives, they are running out of options.

“I’m speaking as a resident of this town,” LaRose said. “You are not playing by the rules. The game is now over. We are now forced to do something drastic.”

One of Sterling’s excuses for not meeting with council was that he was going to be too occupied with his “new portfolio.”

In case you’re unaware, Sterling’s portfolio is Correctional Services, Consumer Services and Business Services. Anybody want to take a guess which one of those three areas a Tory cabinet minister would be most occupied with?

Plans being made

In the Feb. 13 edition of Lock Talk, we told you that plans are being made to take the corrections campaign to a higher, more serious level.

Due to the sensitive nature of these plans, the Corrections MERC will be setting up conference calls with all local representatives in about ten days.

IT IS IMPERATIVE that all local presidents or highest-ranking officials ensure that we have your proper contact information. Please contact Don Ford at OPSEU Head Office immediately to verify that the information on file is correct.

Paying for compliments

Former correctional officer John Wilson doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry.

Not long after resigning his position from the Guelph Correctional Centre, John received notification that he had to pick up a letter at his local postal outlet. Upon arriving, John found a plain white envelope addressed to him, with no postage and no return address. In order to get the letter, John had to fork over C.O.D. charges amounting to $1.01.

And what was inside? A letter from the superintendent of Guelph C.C., thanking John for his 13 years of service.

Well, at least the cost of the stationary wasn’t deducted from his severance.

Resolution watch

The push towards 200 municipalities takes another step forward.

This week, the Municipality of Killarney (southwest of Sudbury) has issued its support for publicly run correctional services. That brings the count to 183.

The Resolution Warrior’s one-man show continues! Thanks again to Len Mason of Local 737 (Thunder Bay Jail).

 

For campaign information, call Don Ford (ext. 442) or Carol Whitehead (ext. 356) at

1-800-268-7376 or (416) 443-8888. e-mail: dford@opseu.org or cwhitehead@opseu.org

.Ontario Public Service Employees Union
100 Lesmill Road, Toronto, Ontario M3B 3P8
www.opseu.org  opseu@opseu.org
Original authorized for distribution by Leah Casselman, president.

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Ontario Public Service Employees Union, 100 Lesmill Rd. Toronto, ON M3B 3P8  (416) 443-8888  www.opseu.org