OPSEU LOCAL 719

Union Side - James Nowe, Harvey Dyck and Darren Ainsworth and by virtue of presidential position Glen Archer  

Management Side - Steve Walker. No other permanent manager members have been identified but attendees at the last 2 meetings have been Judy Hagen and Neil Alcock.

The Employee Relations Committee met on September 4th, 2009. As expected there was quite a full schedule.

Among the most important items discussed were the hot topics regarding roll-overs and the dater of the expected opening of the new Adult Female Unit.  Management has given us no answers on either subject. Management were asked to curtail any talk of roll-over amounts, dates or formulas that were unsubstantiated. They have been feeding the rumour mill lately and have been asked to insure this silliness ends immediately.

The new attendance support program was discussed at length. OM16 Neil Alcock is the designated manager assigned to the program and as such should receive all queries about the program. Any staff approached about entering this program is urged to contact a Union Steward immediately. It is strongly suggested that members do not discuss anything with management without Union representation. This program is not a co-operative agreement with OPSEU as per the collective agreement. Do not co-operate without adequate representation.

There was some talk of temporarily opening one dorm on the former Youth Unit to facilitate painting of the current temporary secure dorm. We have not received any information as to when this is scheduled to happen but we have assurances from management that when this happens there will be additional staff hired from 06:30 until 22:30. There will also be electronic motion-detectors installed in the offender washrooms to alert staff of any persons entering that area. This should alleviate some concerns about offenders sneaking around after lock-up. More to follow on this topic.....

The new working schedules and the staff vacation picks are still subject to finalization and ratification. Management states that they expect the new schedules to be implemented by mid October. The vacation picks and their rotation will be starting as soon as practicable after that. We have assurances that any staff wanting vacation picks in January or February should not worry - they should be accomodated without a problem.

Concerns were raised about the jails readiness for the H1N1 Flu Pandemic. We were advised that the jail is following the Ministry guidelines and that the written guidelines are available for the staff to check out.  On this note we managed to get management to agree to finish the installation of the handwashing station in the kitchen. All this after only 2 years or so after the sink was installed!!

Guns in the Yard - This contentious issue has been finally settled, at least tentatively. After much gnashing of teeth and belittling of the jail staff, management is now directed to install a sallyport in the Admitting Yard. This would allow staff to have offenders securely confined and moved into or out of the jail without staff safety being jeopardized. It is ironic that these matters are being raised at the same time that our local OPP had a serious safety concern with their armed court transfer staff getting involved in a fracas with a disturbed male at the police station. Apparently the wrestling match required several (armed)officers to bring the individual under control. This same nutcase was brought to the jail whereupon he continued his violent antics in the yard as he was being transferred from police custody. The timing of this could not have been better to prove our case for the need to protect correctional staff when there are firearms and inmates in the same proximity.

There were several other issues raised and anyone interested in seeing the outcome of the meeting or finding out about the points raised is advised to contact any member of the ERC and ask to be shown the minutes of that or any other meeting.