On January 7, a vitally important piece of Ontario’s criminal law system – the province’s 6,000 strong staff of jail guards, parole officers, and probation officer – were preparing to walk away from their posts. A strike-lockout deadline had been set for January 10, and Ontario Public Service Employees Union (OPSEU) president Warren “Smokey” Thomas feared the worst.
Credit: The Toronto East Detention Centre in Scarborough, Ontario.
“I really do fear this is a tragedy waiting to happen,” Thomas said.
Just three days later, the crisis was averted: less than 20 hours before the deadline, at 4:20 a.m. on January 9, the province and the union signed an agreement which will move the negotiations to binding arbitration within the next two months. Although the details of a new deal have not been decided, correctional staff have won essential service worker designation, which erases the threat of future strikes.
“That, for the public, means they won’t be in this situation two or three years from now where the government’s spending millions of dollars getting ready [for a strike] … and for our workers they have the security that they don’t have to go on strike,” Thomas told reporters on the January 9.
Key demands of the union were improved wages, more reasonable workload, and improved job safety. Specifically, correctional workers felt their wages had fallen behind those of law enforcement and other emergency workers, while the province insisted it could not afford to pay workers more.
Understaffing and overcrowding had also led to dangerous working conditions in many provincial facilities. On December 7, for instance, inmates at the Thunder Bay District Jail, tired of being crowded three at a time into one-person cells, rioted and took control of the facility. The building’s top floor was destroyed, and a corrections officer was taken hostage for several hours before order was eventually restored.
With safety and wage issues looming large, a tentative agreement reached on November 23 was widely rejected by workers. Thomas was unsurprised, insisting the agreement fell far short of addressing the “crisis in correctional services in this province.”
“This is a wake-up call for (Premier) Kathleen Wynne,” Thomas said in a statement. “I call on this government to come back to the bargaining table with proposals that recognize the extraordinary skills, commitment and courage required of correctional staff.”
While future arbitration will determine how many of the union’s demands are met, the signing of the January 9 agreement is a step in a positive direction for correctional workers, inmates, and Ontario’s criminal law system in general.
“We were able to get some improvements in time off,” said Tom O’Neill, chairman of OPSEU’s bargaining team to reporters. “And we were able to get improvements in workload issues for our folks in the community, who are largely understaffed.”
O’Neill also said the deal includes a “good faith agreement” with the government to end a three-year hiring freeze, according to the CBC.
Besides correctional workers, the province’s 8,000 inmates will also benefit from the agreement, as issues like overcrowding and understaffing are eventually addressed.
“Our big focus now, of course, is to resume normal operations in all our jails,” said Correctional Services Minister Yasir Naqvi. “I very much look forward to continue working with our corrections, probations and parole officers to ensure that their health and safety is always protected – and, of course, that of the inmates that are in our care and custody.”
