February 2, 2001
Hearings conclude for RFP grievance
Hearings for OPSEU’s grievance on the Penetanguishene Request for Proposals
(RFP) have now come to a conclusion at the Grievance Settlement Board (GSB). The
GSB will begin deliberating the case once written submissions from the parties
have been received.
Hearings at the GSB began two weeks ago. There is no estimate as to how long
it will take for the GSB to issue a decision.
"Our lawyer presented a good case," said Barry Scanlon, chair of
the OPSEU Corrections Ministry Employee Relations Committee. "Our win on
the Haileybury / L’Orignal / Cobourg relocation grievance last week should
have a positive impact on this decision. We just want to ensure that all of our
members are treated fairly."
OPSEU’s position on this grievance is that all affected members should have
the right to elect to stay in the Ontario Public Service, go to the private
employer or take their severance package and exit. OPSEU also wants to ensure
that members who receive surplus notices within a relatively close time frame
have an equal chance at available vacancies.
"We don’t want the employer to be able to pick and choose which of our
members get the first opportunity for vacancies," Scanlon said. "If
jails are closing within a few months of each other, then available vacancies
should be accessible to the whole group."
We will keep you posted as soon as more information is available.
"Intolerable retribution"
Severance pay, employment records withheld
from Syl Apps members
It would seem that the Harris government doesn’t respond well to losing.
OPSEU successfully grieved the download of the Syl Apps Youth Centre to the
private sector, specifically that all the provisions of Appendix 18 of the
Ontario Public Service collective agreement had not been met. As a result of
that win, OPSEU and the employer were to meet and discuss how employees would be
retroactively remedied.
All was well and good, until members called OPSEU last week to report that
their severance pay and records of employment were being withheld by Management
Board Secretariat (MBS).
OPSEU immediately demanded a meeting with MBS to find out why.
"We met with the employer on Wed., Jan. 31, and told them in no
uncertain terms that we wanted our members’ money and records released
immediately," said Bob Eaton, chair of the OPSEU ComSoc Ministry Employee
Relations Committee. "It’s reprehensible behaviour from an unscrupulous
employer, but given their track record, we really aren’t surprised."
OPSEU President Leah Casselman calls the situation "intolerable."
"We have made it crystal clear to MBS that we regard their actions
tantamount to holding our members for ransom," President Casselman said.
"We will not tolerate this type of retribution because of our success at
the Grievance Settlement Board."
A meeting is scheduled for next week to receive the employer’s response.
Private firm loses jail contract
A second private firm has lost its contract to run one of Britain’s jails.
Control of Blakenhurst Prison in Worcestershire is to be handed back to the
British Prison Service. The Prison Service will take over from UK Detention
Services, which currently manages the jail.
In a separate competition, an in-house team from the Prison Service has been
named as the preferred bidder to manage Manchester Prison, which it already
runs.
Martin Narey, director general of the Prison Service, says he is aware that
UKDS had been given a glowing report just two years ago for its management of
the prison.
Security firm Group 4 lost the contract to run Buckley Hall in Rochdale in
1999. The new contracts for Blakenhurst and Manchester will run for 10 years.
Bids for both were received from UKDS Premier, Securicor and the in-house Prison
Service team, while Group 4 also applied to run Manchester.
Prison Minister Paul Boateng insists the decision did not spell the end for
privatized jails.
"The private sector has played and will continue to play a significant
role in the delivery of high-quality correctional services," he said.
Translation? As long as we have private companies running jails, it will be
easy to show that you can only get high-quality correctional services from the
public sector.
Escaped inmate calls police after getting lost
An inmate who stole a prison van and escaped got so lost that he called the
police and asked to be taken back to jail.
Ronald Thomas, 38, escaped from a work gang on Tuesday while serving a
12-year burglary sentence at a state prison in north-west Oklahoma. He drove the
van 150 miles north to Garden City, Kansas, before he called authorities from a
shop. He was promptly arrested and now faces charges of escape and stealing a
vehicle.
There is also an unconfirmed rumour that this man is being considered for a
Mike Harris cabinet appointment.
Write this down
Dave Graves, vice chair of the OPSEU Corrections Ministry Employee Relations
Committee, has new contact information.
You can reach Dave on his cell phone at (905) 713-5444. His new e-mail
address is daveyg@sympatico.ca.
Resolution watch
The addition of three more municipalities now brings the resolution count to
182.
Now opposing privatized corrections are the Township of King (north of
Toronto), the Town of Greater Napanee (west of Kingston) and the Town of Sioux
Lookout (north of damn near everywhere).
Thanks again to Len Mason of Local 737 (Thunder Bay Jail).
Can you help Len out?
Due to a catastrophic computer crash, the Resolution Warrior has lost all his
e-mail addresses. If you want to be on Len’s list, please send an e-mail to mason@tbaytel.net.
For campaign information, call Don Ford (ext. 442) or Carol Whitehead
(ext. 356) at
1-800-268-7376 or (416) 443-8888. e-mail: dford@opseu.org
or cwhitehead@opseu.org
.
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
100 Lesmill Road, Toronto, Ontario M3B 3P8
www.opseu.org
opseu@opseu.org
Original authorized for distribution by Leah Casselman, president.
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