FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 13, 2005
OPSEU bargaining team recommend rejection of superjail offer
PENETANGUISHENE - Bargaining representatives for the Ontario Public Service Employees Union Local 369 at the Penetanguishene private superjail have recommended that their members vote to reject the final offer tabled by the employer today, July 13. The contract offer affects over 200 correctional staff at the facility.
OPSEU members will vote on the employer offer on July 21. A rejection will give the union a strike mandate, and a strike date is expected to be set for mid-August. The previous contract expired Dec. 31, 2004.
OPSEU President Leah Casselman said that the contract offer doesn't come anywhere close to what her members need in their next collective agreement: Parity with public sector correctional workers.
"These women and men do the exact same work as public service correctional staff," Casselman said. "It's the same work, the same dangers, the same stress and the same risks. There is no way they should earn any less just because they are working for a private employer."
Currently, workers at the facility run by Utah-based Management and Training Corporation earn two per cent less per hour than their public sector counterparts and receive fewer benefits and less time off. Sean Wilson, chair of the union bargaining team, says this is unacceptable.
"Our members will not be treated as second-class citizens," Wilson said. "We will not make sacrifices so that an American company can line their pockets with Ontario taxpayer money."
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For further information:
Sean Wilson, (705) 321-9596 or (705) 835-2377
Terry Krulicki, OPSEU Staff Representative (705) 238-8080 or (705) 325-4457
