UCCO-SACC-CSN

Federal Correctional Officers Upset by the Slow Pace of Negotiations Loud Demonstrations in Five Canadian Cities

Members of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO-SACC-CSN) are currently holding simultaneous demonstrations in front of the five regional offices of the Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) at the following times and locations: 2:30 p.m. at 1045 Main Street in Moncton, New Brunswick; 1:30 p.m. at 3 Place Laval in Chomedey, Québec; 1:30 p.m. at 440 King Street West in Kingston, Ontario; 12:30 a.m. at 2313 Hanselman Place in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan; and 10:30 a.m. at 32560 Simon Avenue in Abbotsford, British Columbia. Through these demonstrations, the correctional officers are seeking to publicly express their dissatisfaction with the foot-dragging they have witnessed from the Treasury Board of Canada and the CSC at the bargaining table.

Correctional officers have been without a labour contract for 16 months now. During this period, their Union has had 57 days of bargaining with their employer, but the discussions have hardly made any progress. The union members are becoming increasingly exasperated by the bad faith bargaining that has characterized the attitude of the Treasury Board and the CSC.

In the current round of bargaining, correctional officers are primarily seeking to resolve the problems in their collective agreement regarding: reforms to their pension plan, occupational health and safety, as well as improvements to their working conditions.

As professionals who enforce the law of the land, correctional officers have demonstrated plenty of patience and discipline throughout this bargaining process, notwithstanding the fact that CSC managers have continually harassed the Union’s members. Meanwhile, the employer’s underhanded tactics and the virtual absence of progress at the bargaining table are profoundly rubbing UCCO-SACC-CSN members the wrong way.

The latter have a lot of catching up to do in terms of the proper recognition of their work and the fair compensation of the vital service they provide to the population of Canada by carrying out their extremely dangerous tasks professionally every day of the year. They are surely entitled to several significant improvements.

Source : UCCO-SACC-CSN  – 28-10-2003

Information : Atlantic Region: Paul Harrigan : 506-470-9450 (cell phone) Ontario Region: Jason Godin : 613-532-1210 (cell phone) Prairies Region: Kevin Grabowsky : 780-964-6502 (cell phone) Pacific Region: Andy Reekie : 1-800-719-9137 (pager) Quebec Region: Pierre Mallette : 418-254-4905 (cell phone)