FOR IMMEDIATE
RELEASE March 28, 2006
Staff on strike at a
maximum-security young offender facility in Ajax
AJAX – Workers at Kennedy
House, a young offender facility in Ajax, east of Toronto,
went on strike at midnight, March 28. Contract talks between
Youth Service Workers and Kennedy House Youth Services in Ajax
broke down March 23. The key issues in the dispute are
employee safety, wages and hours of work.
“Would you put your life on the
line for $35,000 a year?” asked bargaining team chair Steve
Canning. “Staff at Kennedy House are expected to do this every
day.”
Youth Service Workers at
Kennedy House are paid $10,000 a year less than workers at
other young offender facilities in the province, and are
forced to work with sub-standard security measures.
The 24-bed maximum-security
facility, dubbed “volatile and vulnerable” in a Ministry
report released in 2002, has had nothing done by the employer
to improve safety for the workers.
“When staff risk their lives to
work with violent youth they deserve proper protection and a
fair wage,” Canning said. “We wanted to avoid this strike, but
we’ve just been left with no choice.”
Kennedy House
houses youth between the ages of 12 and 17. Residents have
been convicted of crimes such as armed robbery, murder, sexual
assault, drug and weapons offences, home invasions and escape
from custody.
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For more
information, please contact:
Steve Canning, President,
Local 361: 905-718-8724
Barry Casey, OPSEU Staff Rep: 1-800-263-3928
