FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
January 14, 2002
Corrections Bargaining Backgrounder
Winter 2001-02
On April 12, 2001, the Ontario Public Service Employees Union issued a report to the Ontario government on the deteriorating conditions in our provincial correctional institutions. OPSEU surveyed union locals in 44 Ontario correctional facilities, and found that overcrowding, increased violence and deteriorating working conditions
were directly linked to policy decisions of the Ministry of Correctional Services.
The report documented the following:
· Chronic overcrowding: 61 per cent of institutions surveyed were operating over capacity, i.e., with more inmates than beds, on a “regular” or “daily” basis.
· Increased threats and violence to staff: 86 per cent of facilities reported an increase in threats to staff by inmates; 80 per cent reported an increase in assaults on staff by inmates. Active inmate gangs were reported in 39 per cent of facilities.
· Contraband: 77 per cent reported an increase in the number of contraband items being found in searches. 64 per cent reported finding knives and shivs; 89 per cent reported finding drugs.
· Deteriorating hygiene: As a result of cuts to cleaning and maintenance, poor hygiene now poses a serious health hazard in the institutions. 45 per cent of union locals rated hygiene at their institutions as either “poor” or “very poor.”
· Infectious diseases: Many staff have been hit by infectious diseases running rampant in the institutions. 65 per cent reported outbreaks of communicable diseases such as tuberculosis, hepatitis, meningitis, and scabies. Staff have been infected through contact with inmates in 44 per cent of institutions.
· “High maintenance” inmates: Cuts to health and social programs in the community have resulted in an increased number of “high maintenance” inmates such as those with psychiatric problems or developmental disabilities. 100 per cent of institutions reported an increase in the number of these inmates being incarcerated. Only 23 per
cent of institutions have a special needs unit for housing these inmates.
· Inadequate training: Standards for new (contract) employees are in disarray. 61 per cent of facilities said new correctional officers are never evaluated after their orientation period.
· Personal and family problems: 95 per cent of institutions reported increased levels of psychological distress among staff, resulting in frequent illness, depression, family and marital problems, substance abuse, anger, panic attacks, and, as a result, increased absence from work.
Probation and Parole services are faring little better. Supervising 70,000 offenders in the community, probation and parole staff say that policy changes affecting community corrections have led to critical staff shortages, crushing workloads and rapid technology change, as well as insufficient support and funding of corrections.
This has resulted in a lack of effective offender supervision and rehabilitation, thereby jeopardizing the personal safety of the public at large and probation and parole staff.
These issues have been virtually ignored or side stepped by Corrections Minister Rob Sampson and senior bureaucrats within the Ministry.
The information summarized here draws a grim picture of the life of Ontario correctional officers and probation and parole officers. That is why the Corrections Division of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union have insisted, and will insist, on negotiating issues such as health and safety, early retirement and unclassified
staff issues.
Health and safety plays a vital role in protecting staff working in correctional services. Often, staff must depend on the Occupational Health and Safety Act (OHSA) to protect them when Ministry policies would otherwise put them at risk. Disturbingly, the Ontario government has fought against every health and safety improvement
that OPSEU has put forward, forcing the union to win them through long and costly litigation.
For example, it was a long-standing Ministry policy that only one correctional officer escort an inmate into the community to hospitals, dental appointments and clinics. This lone officer had no safety equipment other than a radio to call for help - help that was often miles away. After numerous escapes where the officer was
overpowered by accomplices of the inmate (in one case, at gunpoint), OPSEU fought to ensure that a minimum of two officers be present when an inmate left the security of an institution. OPSEU also fought to ensure that these officers had proper training, and security equipment including bulletproof vests. The Ministry of Correctional Services spent thousands of
dollars to prevent these safeguards from coming into effect. OPSEU won the legal battle.
With the gutting of the OHSA through Bill 57, OPSEU’s Corrections Division realizes that it is imperative to enshrine its hard-fought health and safety gains into their Collective Agreement. The Corrections Division also knows that it must have the ability to negotiate unique provisions to protect its members. To date, the employer
has refused to allow that negotiation to take place.
It has been long recognized that Corrections is a high-stress occupation that deserves special attention when it comes to retirement. On average, correctional officers die at age 57, long before ever receiving a pension cheque. In fact, correctional officers are one of the five designated occupations that are allowed under federal
law to retire early without penalty.
The employer again refuses to discuss this issue directly with the Corrections Bargaining Team. With no light at the end of the tunnel, seasoned officers with 10 to 20 years experience are leaving the job in unprecedented numbers. This loss of experience in our facilities translates to serious repercussions for the safety of
members left working.
The Corrections Bargaining Team is also fighting hard for the rights of unclassified staff. Unclassified members working in correctional services suffer from the stress of working irregular shifts, and being on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. They work full-time hours, without any full-time benefits. It has become
increasingly difficult to attract and retain new staff because of the inferior working conditions. Again, correctional services finds itself in a perpetual “training mode” with new staff as they rotate in and out of the workplace. The lack of experience on the front lines creates a situation that can be easily taken advantage of by hardened, dangerous offenders.
Workplaces can then erupt into violence without warning.
These predictions are not theoretical. This past summer, inmates rioted at the Whitby Jail. They set fires and smashed equipment, causing over $80,000 in damages. Four officers required medical treatment for smoke inhalation. Less than two weeks later, another riot completely destroyed the Peterborough Jail. Damage was so severe
the jail has now been condemned.
Most frightening of all, three staff were taken hostage at the Fort Frances Jail less than a week after that. Miraculously, all were freed without injury. Two of the three staff on duty that night had only two weeks on the job.
OPSEU members in the Corrections Division are saying, “Enough is Enough.” The Corrections Division is taking a stand, and telling the employer, the Ontario government, that Corrections must have a direct say in the issues that directly affect their members. Anything less is unacceptable. It is unacceptable to the members who are
putting their lives at risk on the front lines, and it is unacceptable to the people of Ontario whose safety depends on quality, professional correctional services.
January 14 Press Release Quinte
| January 14 Press Release Thunder Bay
