Dangerous situation looms as corrections staff get closer possible job action

Barring a last minute reprieve at the negotiating table, corrections workers will walk off the job as the clock strikes 12:01 a.m. on Sunday.

And that could lead to dangerous situations inside both the Thunder Bay District Jail and The Thunder Bay Correctional Institute, say corrections guards at both facilities.

Mike Lundy, the Ontario Public Sector Employees Union representative at the jail on Wednesday said he doesn’t expect anything to come out the next round of talks, scheduled to start on Friday.

“They’ve had 15 months to get serious and they haven’t. I believe that the top end of the food chain, the politicians, have backed themselves so far into a corner they have no idea how to get out,” Lundy said. “And it’s not going to start on Friday and Saturday … and I believe on Sunday morning we’re going to be in a strike position.”

Lundy called it a dangerous game with people’s lives on the line.

“I’m not just talking about the correctional officers and the fact we’re going to be on strike. I’m talking about the lives of members in the community, the lives of people in here, the inmates and the replacement … managers that they’re going to bring in to help run this place,” Lundy said.

“They’re playing a dangerous game with their lives and their health and safety.”

The managers being brought in to keep the inmates under control are not properly trained, he added.

“Correctional officers take years and years to get fully trained up,” he said. “They’re going to use managers from other ministries. They’re going to use managers from inside here. A lot of them are nursing managers, administration managers, people that don’t have any familiarity how a jail works.”

They may have worked inside the facilities for a decade or more, but they don’t know how to do the job of a correctional officer.

“And that’s their contingency plan right now,” Lundy said, adding a strike shack for picketers has already been erected behind the jail.

Sean Bradshaw, who represents workers at the correctional centre, said things could be even more treacherous at his facility.

Prisoners at the correctional centre live in a more open living space concept and have already had privileges taken away because of under staffing. A strike would only make matters worse inside the walls of the prison.

“They have no concept what they’re getting themselves into, if they’re not already a line manager. And even the line managers running it with less staff, their lives are really in jeopardy,” Bradshaw said.

Corrections officers last went on strike in 2002. At that time problems arose at jails across Ontario, from full-scale riots to minor incidents such as breaking windows and small fires, according to a report in the Ottawa Citizen.

Last month inmates took over the top floor of the District Jail, resulting in one guard and several prisoners being sent to hospital for treatment of injuries. On New Year’s Day at least two small fires were lit by inmates and the tactical team was activated to deal with a report of weapons inside the jail.

Without a contract since December 2014, OPSEU members rejected an earlier offer that included no raise in 2015 and a 1.4 per cent hike this year.

Union officials are also seeking to have corrections officers declared an essential service, which would send contract disputes to binding arbitration. They also want the contract to cover safety issues, including overcrowding. Staffing levels are also a concern, Lundy and Bradshaw said.