FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE June 25, 2001

Corrections lockout could pose public threat, OPSEU warns

UXBRIDGE - The union representing correctional staff at an Uxbridge facility warns that young offenders given early release may pose a threat to the public.

Unionized correctional staff at Kennedy House (formerly St. John’s Training School for Boys) were locked out by the employer on Sat., June 23 when contract talks came to a complete impasse. To facilitate the lockout, a number of young offenders were released prior to the expiry of their sentences. Kennedy House, a government funded non-profit agency, is continuing operations using managers and non-union employees.

Barry Casey, negotiator for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union’s Local 361 at Kennedy House, is stunned by the employer’s tactics. “To reduce numbers, the employer released many young offenders, some of whom are dangerous and likely to re-offend,” Casey said. “Ultimately, communities will pay the price for this employer’s arrogance.”

“The contract concessions that this employer is asking for is staggering,” Casey said. “It’s seems the employer wanted a labour dispute to happen.”

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.

Local 361 president Charlie Bryans, representing 130 employees at the site, says that the employer has totally destroyed morale in the less than one year that they have been running the facility. “First the employer destroys staff morale, then they lock us out,” Bryans said. “They have the money budgeted to settle this dispute. We’re asking: where is this money going?”

“We have been trying to bargain a decent settlement,” Bryans said. “but the employer is making this impossible.”

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For more information: 

Barry Casey (905) 720-3434
Charlie Bryans (905) 649-0135
Local 361 Strike HQ (905) 649-0107