Inmates stabbed at Toronto West
"Blind luck" that no officers were
hurt
An ongoing gang war at the Toronto West Detention
Centre spilled over to violence on Thursday, April 26.
It was reported that three inmates were stabbed,
one seriously, in the exercise yard at the West when two gang factions squared
off during the exercise period. No correctional officers were injured during the
attack. It was only through the quick and decisive action by the officers on
duty that prevented the incident from escalating further.
A subsequent search of the yard turned up four
"shanks," two metal, two plastic. The metal weapons were fashioned out
of the metal clips that hold down the lids on the large inmate coffee/tea jugs.
The plastic shanks were formed from melted toothbrushes.
Hostilities between the rival factions continued
the next day, but no violent incidents were reported. Reports from the
institution indicate that the frequent cancellation of unit searches due to lack
of staffing could have been a contributory factor to the incident.
Barry Scanlon, chair of the OPSEU Corrections
Ministry Employee Relations Committee, was thankful that the incident was
contained.
"It was just blind luck that no officers
were hurt in this incident," Scanlon said. "The increasing violence in
our facilities should be an indicator to this government that something is
seriously amiss in the corrections system. I commend our members for continuing
to perform admirably under incredibly difficult circumstances. We will do our
utmost to ensure that our members do not go through another summer like last
year."
Mayors meeting in Penetang
As this is being written, representatives from 15
Ontario municipalities are gathering in Penetanguishene to hear concerns about
the planned privatization of the town’s 1,200-bed superjail.
Penetanguishene council invited the mayors to
come and tour the facility, and to inform them of the town’s dissatisfaction
in its dealings with the Ontario government. Town officials have been fighting
the planned privatization of the jail since the Ministry of Correctional
Services made the announcement in November, 1999.
"We have told the Ontario government that we
won’t allow our citizens to be used as guinea pigs for their privatization
experiments," said Randy Robbins, Penetanguishene Deputy Mayor. "We
hope that when other municipalities hear about our plight, they will support our
position. At the very least, they will have the information to protect
themselves in the future."
A tour of the facility plus a lengthy list of
guest speakers is on the agenda.
Managers unionizing?
Maybe there’s something to this union movement.
Rumour has it that growing group of corrections
operational managers (OM16s) have hired a high profile lawyer in London, Ontario
to fight the government to allow their ranks to join the Association of
Management, Administrative and Professional Crown Employees of Ontario (AMAPCEO).
It appears that the managers have done the math
(never let it be said that they can’t count), and have figured out that
Ministry promises to keep all of them employed after the downsizing of the
system may be a little too optimistic. Especially when those same "job
offers" have been made to all the acting managers as well.
Apparently, the OM16s do not meet the definition
of "manager" under the Ontario Labour Relations Act, so their bid to
unionize might just succeed. We bet that the upper brass will be just thrilled
if the managers are successful.
The words to "Solidarity Forever" are
available on the Internet.
Resolution Watch
Without a pause, the resolution count passes the
200 mark and moves to 201.
The Township of Jocelyn (southeast of Sault Ste.
Marie) has passed the motion opposing privatized correctional services in
Ontario.
A "well done" to our Resolution
Warrior, Len Mason of Local 737 (Thunder Bay Jail).
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
opseu@opseu.org
Original authorized for distribution by Leah Casselman, president.
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