The President of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union
has invited the leaders of the three main Ontario political parties to join
him on a tour of one of the province’s harshest correctional facilities.
Warren (Smokey) Thomas has asked that Premier Dalton
McGuinty, Conservative leader John Tory and NDP leader Howard Hampton
accompany him on a walk-through of the Toronto (Don) Jail. He wants
Ontario’s top politicians to experience first-hand the conditions OPSEU
members work in every day.
“Over the past few months, correctional officers and youth
workers in our provincial facilities have been accused of taking excessive
sick time,” Thomas says in his letter. “Yet these workers are forced to
perform their duties in some of the worst working conditions in Ontario.”
Thomas believes that the province needs a wake-up call to
just how bad the work environment is in the Toronto Jail and the rest of the
correctional facilities in Ontario.
“Judges are giving convicted offenders double and triple
time credits for time served because of the bad conditions,” Thomas said.
“Yet the Ministry pretends not to understand why staff sick time is high.”
Thomas says his union is willing to work with the government
to bring about long-overdue change. “Today, we have the opportunity to work
together to try to improve the lives of the thousands of men and women who
keep the public safe, 24 hours a day,” Thomas concludes in his letter. “I
know that an honest look into the conditions at the Toronto Jail, one of the
worst facilities in the province, would help focus on cooperatively
addressing the long-standing issues.”
Print this page