October
13, 2000
Welcome to the 50th edition of Lock
Talk since the privatization announcement November 19, 1999
"Make that bad man go away!"
MPP refused entry to private Y.O. facility
Musician Dave Edmunds once sang, "I hear
you knocking, but you can’t come in."
Liberal Corrections Critic Dave Levac was stopped in his
tracks when he tried to visit the now privatized Genest Detention Centre
for Youth in London.
Levac arrived at the facility at 9:10 a.m. on Oct. 6 and
was kept waiting for nearly a half-hour, only to be told that he was not
permitted inside. "You’re breaking the law," Levac responded,
citing provincial regulations that allow an MPP to visit facilities
unannounced. But it still couldn’t get him through the door.
Last month,
a young offender escaped from Genest by climbing over a secure fence.
Since then, managers at the facility have seemed more interested in
finding the staff member who leaked the escape to the press than fixing
security problems.
Levac blamed privatization of the facility for both the
escape and the failure to allow him immediate access.
"Every public institution I’ve visited, I was
greeted with open arms," Levac said. "I never got any sense they
had something to hide. I have a feeling the veil at Genest is there on
purpose."
The question for Corrections Minister Rob Sampson now
is, Is this the type of "open and accountable" privatization you
are promising to the citizens of Penetanguishene? As of right now, the
Ministry of Community and Social Services is the only ministry with
experience in privatized corrections. And, by all reports, it is failing.
Perhaps if private operators weren’t allowed to hide
behind locked doors, we would get a truer picture of Rob’s grand scheme.
However, we are betting that is exactly what Sampson DOESN’T want to
happen.
Law Union conference next week
The Law Union of Ontario is holding a private
prisons conference on Saturday, Oct. 21. Titled "What’s Wrong with
the Tories’ Plan for Prisons?" the conference goes from 9 a.m.-4
p.m. at the Bennett Lecture Hall, 78 Queen’s Park, Faculty of Law, U of
T.
Guest speakers will include professors from Carleton
University and the U of T, Barry Scanlon, chair of the OPSEU Corrections
Ministry Employee Relations Committee, Corrections Critics David Levac and
Peter Kormos, and British privatization expert Stephen Nathan.
Admission is $10. For more information, call (416)
926-8043 ext. 151.
Sudbury demo a huge draw
The weather was cold, but that didn’t stop
nearly 150 protesters from attending a wildly successful protest at the
Sudbury Jail.
The event took place on Friday, Oct. 6 and the guest
list was very impressive.
OPSEU
president Leah Casselman and First Vice-President
Len Hupet were there, along with Region 6 board member Bill Kuehnbaum.
Barry Scanlon, chair of the OPSEU Corrections Ministry Employee Relations
Committee was in attendance as well as members from Local 616 (North Bay
Jail), Local 618 (Cecil Facer Youth Centre), Local 629 (Sudbury P&P),
Local 628 (Sudbury Air Ambulance), Local 319 (Parry Sound Jail), Local 224
(Owen Sound Jail) and Local 521 (Mimico/TYAC).
The list of other groups in attendance was even more
impressive. At the rally were NDP Corrections Critic Peter Kormos, NDP MPP
Shelley Martell, Liberal MPP Rick Bartolucci, as well as representatives
from the Canadian Labour Congress, the Sudbury and District Labour
Council, the Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation, and the
Communications, Energy and Paperworkers Union. Striking miners from the
Canadian Auto Workers in Falconbridge and striking youth workers from
Northern Lights were also on the line.
Kormos was the first to address the crowd, and he was in
fine form.
"I have never met a minister who is less
interested, less familiar and less committed than Rob Sampson,"
Kormos said. "His dishonesty and hypocrisy is staggering when he
talks about putting inmates back to work, when he is the one who has shut
down inmate work programs across the province."
MPP Bartolucci told the crowd that the Liberal party was
firmly on the correctional officers’ side. "The only way to treat a
bully is to bully back," he said, referring to Sampson.
MPP Martell just had a few questions for the crowd.
"Does it make any sense to close jails in the community?" she
asked. "Does it make any sense to warehouse inmates in superjails?
Does it make any sense to bring a failed U.S. experiment here?" Each
question was met with a resounding "NO" from the crowd.
President Casselman also spoke to crowd, telling them
that she had just received word that a private operator had been picked to
run her facility, Syl Apps.
"The government intimated to the press that they
‘finally got Casselman’," Leah said. "Yet they pretend that
privatization is not about busting unions. It is ALL about busting
unions."
Barry Scanlon described to the demonstrators how the
union has had to fight the ministry to make things safer for the members.
"This Minister does not care about safety," he said.
"Neither yours, or the public’s."
In all, it was a well-organized event. Congratulations
to Local 617 for a superb job.
Resolution watch
Four more resolutions have arrived this week,
bringing our anti-privatization municipality list to 114. Blaine Warden,
president of Local 252 (Niagara D.C.) has brought in the town of Lincoln,
and our Resolution Warrior Len Mason from Local 737 (Thunder Bay Jail) has
captured the townships of Glanbrook (near Hamilton), Otonabee-South
Monaghan (near Peterborough) and Brockton (surrounding Walkerton).
Great work, folks. Perhaps some other members could
start adding to the count. How about it people?
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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