FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 24, 2005
Niagara correctional officers to protest abuse of part-time workers
NIAGARA FALLS - Correctional officers at the Niagara Detention Centre will hold a protest outside the facility on July 25 to protest management treatment of unclassified staff. NDP MPP Peter Kormos will join members at the event.
DATE: Monday, July 25, 2005
TIME: 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
PLACE: Niagara Detention Centre, Hwy. 58, Thorold, ON
Management at the facility has increased the number of unclassified part-time staff to equal the number at a jail twice its size. As a result, employees cannot get enough hours to live on.
Dave Couture, president of OPSEU Local 252 at the Detention Centre, said management does not appear to care that their employees can't afford to live. "This situation could be fixed by allowing some of these employees to go to other facilities," Couture said. "However, local management won't approve them to leave. It
makes absolutely no sense."
Barry Scanlon, chair of OPSEU's Corrections Division, said this is no way to treat employees who perform critical public safety work. "Students working in fast-food chains get treated better than these public safety workers," Scanlon said. "Workers supervising murderers and rapists should be able to concentrate on their
work and not worry if they are going to make enough money that week to survive. The situation will only get worse this fall, when available hours are reduced."
Over 400 individual complaints on management hiring and scheduling practices have been filed over the past few days, and further actions will follow.
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For further information:
Dave Couture (905) 834-8196
