AJAX
– The long strike is finally over for workers at Kennedy House, a young
offender facility in Durham Region.
After eleven months on the picket line, 32 members of OPSEU Local 361
will return to work April 9 at the maximum security facility after they
ratified a new contract Feb. 27.
The
facility should be fully operational by about April 23.
“It
was a tough fight,” said OPSEU President Leah Casselman. “This employer
was reluctant to budge on basic issues of fairness. Congratulations to
this small group of workers who stood firm, while the company sat back
and collected money from the provincial government, and youth were sent
to other facilities.”
The
workers went on strike March 28, 2006 in a dispute over employee safety,
wages and hours of work. The outstanding issue was achieving fairness
for more senior employees in case of layoffs.
Kennedy House residents are youth between the ages of 12 and 17, who
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, contact: OPSEU
Negotiator, Rob Field,
416-527-1373
