It’s a very difficult day for Ontario corrections workers. Today, Corrections Minister Rob Sampson announced the closure of six more jails and the creation of three new private facilities. He has now put a date on the closure of 27 facilities. Three of those are slated to close in the fall of this year.

Our hearts go out to all members whose jobs have been affected by today’s announcements. We know the pain and uncertainty that you are feeling, and we will do everything in our power to assist you in the days ahead.

But our fight is not over. In fact, today’s mega-announcement is evidence that our campaign is working. It is clearly an attempt by the Tories to take control of a situation that is not going their way.

Our battles at the community level are working. Make no mistake, we are now fighting the Premier’s office. Today’s announcement had been delayed since April 25 due to direction from Harris. Why would the Premier get involved? Because our pressure is working.

Just like the scheduling issue, this announcement is intended to throw OPSEU members off track. We’re not going to be side-tracked.

So let’s continue the fight. Get those council resolutions in. And if you are reading this Rob, get the hint. We won’t back down.

For the full text of today’s announcement, check the government web site at http://www.newswire.ca/government/ontario/english/releases/May2000/05/c1961.html .

 
Hopefully the warmer weather had something to do with Sault Ste. Marie city council members losing their cold feet.

On Monday, May 1, the council met to reconsider their earlier resolution to oppose privatized jails. Since the passing of that earlier motion, council members were besieged with calls from Corrections Minister Rob Sampson asking council to “clarify” their position (“clarify” translates to “surrender” in Sampson-speak).

Rumours were flying in the Sault that if council did not support the Minister, the city would lose funding for the Northern Treatment Centre and possibly the hospitals. So a Sault councillor moved reconsideration on the anti-privatization motion.

Council debated this issue for over three hours Monday night. By the time the dust settled, the resolution opposing privatized corrections remained in effect.

(Note: The May 5 announcement contained nothing about the complete closure of either NTC or the Sault Jail. The message here: Tell Sampson to shove it and you get to keep your facility!)

With the council battle still fresh on everyone’s mind, citizens of Sault Ste. Marie were treated to a large demonstration that took place at the Sault Ste. Marie Jail on Wednesday, May 3. OPSEU president Leah Casselman joined protesters that came out in support of publicly run facilities in the province of Ontario.

Also in attendance were “Uncle Sam” and “Mike Harris”, who took great delight in slapping a “sold” sign on the Sault Jail, despite jeers from the crowd. Even the RCMP “Mountie” called to the scene could not stop the villains from selling off public services.

We wish to recognize the efforts of James Clyke, president of Local 670 (Northern Treatment Centre) for his hard work to convince the Sault council to stand by its guns, and for his efforts in organizing the successful protest. Local 670 member Vern Silver also deserves mention for his efforts.

The Ontario government’s budget announcement on Tuesday, May 2 held a little surprise for probation and parole officers across the province. Finance Minister Ernie Eves revealed that the government intends to hire 165 new probation and parole officers as part of a new $18 million Strict Discipline model for community corrections.

The first question that arose was whether or not these new officers would be public employees. Morris Zbar, Assistant Deputy Minister of Correctional Services, assured OPSEU Corrections Ministry Employee Relations Committee member David Kerr that these new hires would be public employees, and also stated that there is no cheaper alternative service delivery to be found anywhere than what is being currently provided.

Given Corrections Minister Rob Sampson’s track record for providing information that is a tad untruthful, we would be pleasantly surprised if the ministry actually supported a program which is efficient, effective and publicly run. What a change that would be from their current direction.

A word to the wise, though. Don’t fill out those application forms just yet. We seem to remember a long ago promise to hire additional labour inspectors. Years have gone by, and those jobs have yet to materialize.

Once again, our northern resolution warrior Len Mason of Local 737 (Thunder Bay Jail) has come through with another two municipalities to add to the growing list. The Township of Gillies near Thunder Bay and the Town of New Liskeard have added their names to the list of public jail supporters. The list now stands at 64 municipalities who oppose privatized correctional services.

Len has now issued a challenge to all locals to try to push the list to the magic number of 100. We cannot thank Len enough for his incredible efforts.

A Mississauga citizens’ group has launched a new Internet site to inform the public about a government plan to use lone security guards to escort prison inmates in the community.

The new web site is at http://safecommunity.20m.com . Users will require Adobe Acrobat Reader (available for free download at www.adobe.com) to view all the documents on the site.

1-800-268-7376 or (416) 443-8888. e-mail: dford@opseu.org or cwhitehead@opseu.org