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July 13, 2001

“Just lock the doors”
Ministry opposes OPSEU battle to make Kenora Jail safe

An ongoing conflict between OPSEU and the Ministry of Correctional Services over security at the Kenora Jail took a turn for the better this week when the Ministry lost an appeal decision at the Ontario Labour Relations Board (OLRB).

The issue surrounds security doors at the facility. For security reasons, we cannot go into detail on the issues, but local union representatives have been fighting for years to get internal security doors at the facility locked to ensure staff and public safety. Each step of the way, the employer has blocked union attempts to secure these doors. Only after numerous work refusals by staff did the Ministry of Labour (MOL) issue an order to the employer to initiate the locking protocols the union had requested. No one was surprised, however, when the Ministry appealed the order.

The Ministry wanted an extension to the deadline issued by MOL to initiate the protocols, and also wanted the MOL order suspended until the full appeal was heard. It appears the Ministry thought they would get an order granting the suspension, because no measures were taken by the employer to comply with the original MOL order.

On Tues., July 10, the Ministry lost the appeal at the OLRB. Yet there are still no signs that work is being done at the jail to correct the security problems.

Larry Gaetano, president of Local 719, is disgusted at the tactics of the employer.

“All they had to do in the first place was lock the doors that we said should be locked,” Gaetano said. “Instead, the Ministry has probably spent a half a million dollars fighting us. It has been a complete waste of taxpayers’ money, and they still haven’t addressed the security issue.”

Gaetano is especially concerned because the inmates who were involved in the Fort Frances Jail hostage incident are now sitting in the Kenora Jail.

“It seems that the Ministry’s last priority is the safety of the workers,” Gaetano said. “They’re spending more money to avoid implementing safety measures than it would cost them to comply. It would cost the employer nothing to make this place safe. We have the locks, we have the keys and we have the staff. Just lock the doors.”

Daryl Pitfield, chair of the Corrections Ministry Health and Safety Team, is baffled by the employer’s attitude.

“We’ve had three very serious incidents in the last month,” Pitfield said, referring to Whitby Jail, Peterborough Jail and Fort Frances. “We’re fighting to make jails safer, and the Ministry seems to be fighting against us. It doesn’t make any sense.”

Considering that the Ministry has been making a lot of noise about staff safety, their position on this issue is puzzling. It can’t be a money issue. One only has to look at the costs associated with police response to jail incidents in the last four weeks. But those pale in comparison to the human costs of being involved in a riot, or worse, being taken hostage. Those costs can’t be measured.

Uxbridge lockout continues

Select from list  below: image appears at right Local 361 On the Line Andy Harris: Where is the money going? Local 361 President Charlie Bryans Leah Casselman and Charlie Bryans Local 361 is like a cobra... Everyone is affected Kelly Mason, Local 361 Lorraine Mascard drumming up support

Unionized correctional staff at Kennedy House (formerly St. John’s Training School for Boys) are getting ready to start their fourth week on the picket line. Their employer locked them out June 23.

Local 361 president Charlie Bryans, representing 130 employees at the site, says that the employer has totally destroyed morale in the less than one year that they have been running the facility. “First the employer destroys staff morale, then they lock us out,” Bryans said. “They have the money budgeted to settle this dispute. We’re asking: where is this money going?”

Members were locked out when they refused to accept a mind-boggling list of contract concessions. The list of employer concessions include: elimination of top-up pay for pregnancy/parental leave; no seniority rights for laid-off workers; no wage increase for four years; the elimination of all current health and safety language; mandatory employee training without pay; no prior notice for changes to work schedules or shifts; overtime pay only after working in excess of 176 hours over four weeks; elimination of banked sick credits; reduction and elimination of workplace accommodation language for sick or injured workers; and refusal to give employees a pension plan.

“We have been trying to bargain a decent settlement,” Bryans said. “But the employer is making this impossible.” Kennedy House has been using non-unionized employees from facilities in Scarborough and Ajax to scab the lockout.

On Mon., July 9, president Leah Casselman visited the members at the line. Also there that day were OPSEU Corrections Ministry Employee Relations Committee representatives Barry Scanlon and Dave Graves, and Region 3 Executive Board Member Doris Middleton. Peter Harding and Mac Thomas from Local 337 (Brookside Youth Centre) also paid a call to the line.

Addressing the picketers, Leah Casselman told them she was proud of the stand they are taking.

“We will be with you until the end of this dispute,” Casselman said. “You will either stand up now, or you will be on your knees with this employer forever. I know that you will stand tough.”

Members from Local 308 (Peterborough Jail) visited the line on Tues., July 10. ALL members in the corrections division are requested to get out and lend their support. This dispute is a glimpse of the future of corrections in Ontario, and these members need assistance if they are going to break this employer’s agenda.

If you can’t visit the line, you can send donations to assist the members. Please make cheques payable c/o Andy Harris (Hardship Committee) and mail to: Hardship Committee, c/o 5725 Davis Drive, R.R. #3, Mount Albert, ON L0G 1M0. You can also contact the local at (905) 649-0107 (Lockout headquarters). You can view photos at http://www.opseu.org/ops/ministry/locktalk/locktalkjuly13.htm

Their fight is your fight. Please help any way you can.

Wellington D.C. the next to go

The Ministry will try again tonight to close the Wellington Detention Centre. Wellington will be officially closed effective 11:59 p.m., Friday, July 13, 2001.

Slated for closure last week, Wellington D.C. remained open to prevent triple bunking at the Maplehurst facility. Although the Ministry is stating publicly that all of the inmates will now be residing in Maplehurst, sources indicate that nothing could be further from the truth.

In a correctional version of “Where’s Waldo,” Wellington inmates have been allegedly scattered to jails in Hamilton, Stratford, Niagara, Owen Sound and Walkerton. It will now be up to beleaguered police forces to try to round them all up again in order to get them to court next week.

In light of the events of the last few weeks, we doubt that this will help stabilize the inmate population. We’re guessing that the people doing the planning on this aren’t the ones who are turning the keys on the floors.

Resolution Watch

The resolution floodgates have opened, and they’re pouring in.

This week, 20 (that’s right, 20) municipalities have added their names to the corrections anti-privatization list. They are: the Township of Front of Yonge (west of Brockville), the Township of West Grey (north of Walkerton), the Township of Lake of Bays (in Muskoka), the Township of South-West Oxford (south of Woodstock), the Township of Blandford-Blenheim (east of Woodstock), the Township of Manitouwadge (way east of Thunder Bay), the Township of Ryerson (near Parry Sound), Loyalist Township (west of Kingston), the Township of Tehkummah (Manitoulin Island), the Township of St. Joseph (southeast of Sault Ste. Marie), the newly amalgamated Town of Port Hope and Hope (east of Oshawa), the Town of Gore Bay (Manitoulin Island), the Town of Espanola (west of Sudbury), the Town of Gravenhurst (north of Orillia), the Municipality of Huron East (southeast of Goderich), the Municipality of Bluewater (south of Goderich), the Municipality of South Huron (north of London), the County of Perth (near Stratford), the United Counties of Prescott and Russell (near L’Orignal), and the County of Huron (near Goderich).

That brings our total to a whopping 240. This is the result of a lot of amazing work by the Resolution Warrior, Len Mason of Local 737 (Thunder Bay Jail). Thanks, Len.

For campaign information, call Don Ford (ext. 442) or Pam Doig (ext. 687) at 1-800-268-7376 or (416) 443-8888.
e-mail: dford@opseu.org or pdoig@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.

Ontario Public Service Employees Union, 100 Lesmill Rd. Toronto, ON M3B 3P8  (416) 443-8888  www.opseu.org