UXBRIDGE - Leah Casselman, president of the Ontario
Public Service Employees Union, will join members of Local 361 on the
strike line at Kennedy House (formerly St. John’s Training School for
Boys) in Uxbridge.
Date: Thursday, June 28, 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 a impasse. To facilitate the
lockout, a number of young offenders were released prior to the expiry of
their sentences. Casselman says that releasing offenders into the
community because of a labour dispute is totally unacceptable.
“Some of these young offenders are considered
dangerous and highly likely to re-offend,” Casselman said. “Obviously,
public safety does not take precedent over government cost savings.”
The number and type of concessions that the employer
is demanding at the bargaining table, concessions that led to the lockout,
astound Casselman. 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.
“If the government has its way, this is the future
of corrections in Ontario,” Casselman said. “We will not stand idly by
and watch wages and working conditions be destroyed. This is one of the
most dangerous professions in the province. How can the public expect
safe, professional facilities when the workers are treated like dirt?
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For more information, please contact:
Don Ford, OPSEU Communications (416) 723-8430
Barry Casey, OPSEU Negotiator (905) 720-3434
Charlie Bryans, President, Local 361 (905) 649-0135
