FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 6, 2001

OPSEU president Leah Casselman to join correctional workers as lock out enters third week

UXBRIDGE - Leah Casselman, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union, will again join members of Local 361 on the picket line at Kennedy House (formerly St. John’s Training School for Boys) in Uxbridge.

Date: Monday, July 9, 2001
Time: 3 p.m.
Place: Kennedy House, 335 Main St. North, Uxbridge

Unionized correctional staff at Kennedy House, a government funded non-profit agency, were locked out by the employer on Sat., June 23 when contract talks came to an impasse.

“This is nothing but bully tactics by a callous employer,” Casselman said. “We will not allow wages and working conditions to be destroyed just so the government can save a buck.”

The number and type of concessions the employer is demanding at the bargaining table that led to the lockout are disturbing. Included in the list of employer concessions are: elimination of top-up pay for pregnancy/parental leave; no seniority rights for laid-off workers; no wage increase for four years; the elimination of all current health and safety language; mandatory employee training without pay; no prior notice for changes to work schedules or shifts; overtime pay only after working in excess of 176 hours over four weeks; elimination of banked sick credits; reduction and elimination of workplace accommodation language for sick or injured workers; and refusal to give employees a pension plan.

“These members risk their lives every day to protect the community, and this is how they’re treated,” Casselman said. “The public needs to tell the government that their safety shouldn’t be compromised. You can’t expect professional service when the workers are treated with contempt.”

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For more information, please contact:

Don Ford, OPSEU Communications (416) 788-9104
Barry Casey, OPSEU Negotiator (905) 720-3434
Charlie Bryans, President, Local 361 (905) 649-0135

www.opseu.org