FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE April 22, 2004
Syl Apps Workers to picket in Hamilton and Milton
OAKVILLE -Youth Workers at the Syl Apps Youth Centre will set up auxiliary picket lines in Hamilton and Milton as the strike by 145 youth workers enters its second week.
Members of OPSEU Local 213 will picket the Arrell Youth Centre in Hamilton on Friday, April 23 from 6:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and Transitions for Youth (MacMillan Centre) in Milton on Monday, April 26. Both of these facilities are accepting youths from Syl Apps Youth Centre, something that neither facility is equipped to
handle, the union charges.
"OPSEU members at the Arrell Youth Centre are concerned for their safety and the safety of the youth currently in the facility," said Mohar Budhram, President of Local 213. "Arrell is not an appropriate facility for the violent, high risk young offenders that are kept at Syl Apps. The union will be pursuing health and
safety complaints with Arrell."
The acceptance of youths by Transitions for Youth in Milton could also become a community safety concern, Budhram said.
"This is an open-custody operation that doesn't have locked doors or a perimeter fence," Budhram said. "Syl Apps young offenders are supposed to be in a secure custody facility. In Milton, they can simply walk away. We doubt that residents living near the facility know that this is happening."
Government funded Syl Apps is an 80-bed facility that houses violent, high risk young offenders aged 12 to 16, charged with crimes that include armed robbery, murder and sexual assault. Workers at the facility are asking for parity with correctional workers in the Ontario Public Service along with shift premiums and
improvements to pensions. Kinark's position is a zero per cent wage increase along with reductions in sick time entitlements and WSIB provisions. Kinark has already reduced unit staffing levels and refuses to commit to maintaining internal emergency response teams.
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For more information, please contact:
Mohar Budhram: (905) 848-1953
Bebe De Freitas, OPSEU Staff Representative: (905) 536-8774
