PENETANGUISHENE – The President of
the Ontario Public Service Employees Union is
calling on Corrections Minister Rick Bartolucci to
investigate practices at the Central North
Correctional Centre that appear to be still rooted
in how the facility was run while privatized.
OPSEU President Warren (Smokey)
Thomas says that problems at the facility need to be
addressed immediately, especially where safety is
impacted, regardless of the cost to do so.
For some time, the superjail has
been plagued by chronic computer problems, mostly
affecting the door locking mechanisms at the jail.
Despite numerous jail lockdowns and attempted fixes,
staff still do not trust the system 100 per cent.
Compounding security problems, the
jail is still running with less than half the
unclassified staff as similar facilities, causing
daily staffing problems. And a balky “swipe card”
system that clocks staff in and out for shifts (the
only one of its type in the province) docks pay from
staff despite the fact they have been relieved of
duty.
“It appears many of the problems
stem from the old private jail attitude of putting
profits first,” Thomas said. “When the jail came
back into the public system, many of the private
jail managers were kept on. That’s fine, as long as
someone reminds them that in publicly-run
corrections, staff safety and security comes first.
That’s why the private company was given the boot.”
Dan Sidsworth, Chair of OPSEU’s
Corrections Division, says staff are fed up and are
ready to publicly demonstrate to get action.
“We have tried everything to resolve
the problems at CNCC, but no one seems to be
listening,” Sidsworth said. “The Ministry of Labour
has shown that they will not enforce their powers to
ensure the health and safety of the people who work
at CNCC. Maybe the government needs to be reminded
publicly that this is now a public facility.”
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