February 8, 2002
Last one to leave, turn the lights off
Why are staff bailing out at MTC?
When you talk about jails and you hear the phrase “revolving door,” usually you think about inmates and recidivism. But at Canada’s only private adult correctional facility, this phrase applies to the staff.
The media has been in a frenzy for the last week after they learned that 12 correctional staff members, including the deputy superintendent, have resigned their positions since the Penetanguishene superjail officially opened its doors last November. Media interviews with MTC officials have resulted in comments
like “it’s just growing pains,” “this was expected,” and “everything is running fine.” The superintendent at the facility even went so far as to say that the turnover rate at the jail is just six per cent, which is much better than expected.
Six per cent?
Perhaps the turnover is six per cent of total staffing, but definitely not six per cent of the correctional officers working there. If you count just the correctional officers, the turnover rate is almost double the figure being given to the press. And THAT figure cannot in anyway be construed as “better than
expected.”
So why are staff walking away from $19.00 per hour jobs in an Ontario town where wages are low and jobs are scarce? The tales coming out of 1,200-bed facility (which is home to approximately 500 inmates so far) start to paint a clearer picture.
It is being reported that working conditions are horrible. Workloads are completely unmanageable. Inmates, fed up with improper food and lack of heat, are constantly bordering on the edge of violence. Malfunctioning equipment and door locks are still a problem. In one case, a psychiatrist was trapped in an
interview room with an inmate for more than an hour. There are entire weekends where the jail is locked down due to threats of riots. And to put the icing on the cake, staff trying to cope with an eight-hour shift schedule because management refuses to even consider 12-hour shifts.
So why are the staff quitting, as opposed to voicing their complaints to the employer? Perhaps one of the reasons is the fact that there aren’t any formal processes for the staff to do so. There isn’t a union in the jail, so there isn’t any recognized Employee Relations Committee to bring forward concerns. There
is an inmate committee that management talks to. Not so for the staff.
Perhaps the biggest indicator that there are serious problems in the superjail came this past Monday, when Corrections Minister Rob Sampson granted an interview with a Barrie television station. Sampson, sitting relaxed behind his desk (after hastily removing his tie to complete the effect), told the reporter
that things were working out just great in Penetanguishene. “Just growing pains,” Sampson said. In fact, he was very pleased with how things were going at his beautiful new jail.
The fact that Sampson even lowered himself to talk to the media in the first place should set off alarm bells. This is the same minister who won’t even declare who he is supporting in the upcoming Tory leadership race. Our Rob, responding to criticism? Things must be worse at the superjail than we thought.
One thing that we can be fairly sure of is that Sampson WON’T admit that mistakes were made in Penetang. That is not the Tory way, especially if it has anything to do with privatization.
Our thoughts are with the staff trying to do their jobs in conditions that would not be tolerated in a unionized, public facility.
Stay safe, folks.
Not happy (boot) campers
Ministry report on boot camp success “nonsense,” researcher says
A Ministry report released last March stating that Camp Turnaround is a complete success is flawed and inaccurate, says a University of Toronto criminologist.
Anthony Doob said he examined the evaluation by T3 Associates of Ottawa, and concluded that there is no difference in recidivism rates between boot camp participants and young offenders in public service facilities.
“It is nonsense when the minister says it is clear Project Turnaround is turning lives around,” Doob said.
Doob discovered that the study was flawed because the Ministry did not include dropouts from the boot camp in the evaluation. Only those young offenders who completed the program were included for comparison against those in traditional facilities.
“What they compared are two barrels of apples,” Doob said. “Except they took the bad apples out of one barrel and, lo and behold, they found more bad apples in the other barrel.”
In other words, the Ministry provided skewed data to a consulting firm, who then in turn released a report that “proved” that the Tories boot camp experiment was a success.
Hmm…a Minister that says something is going great when there is clear evidence to prove otherwise. Now where have we heard that before?
For campaign information, call Don Ford (ext. 442) at 1-800-268-7376 or (416) 443-8888.
e-mail: dford@opseu.org
Ontario Public Service Employees Union
100 Lesmill Road, Toronto, Ontario M3B 3P8
www.opseu.org
Original authorized for distribution by Leah Casselman, president.
