'Several measures are in place to protect the safety and security of staff,' says CSC spokesperson
Hundreds of Canadian correctional officers in different parts of the country rallied in front of the regional headquarters of Correctional Services Canada (CSC) on Thursday to ask for better contacts from their employer.
From Abbotsford, B.C. to Moncton, N.B., the members of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO-SACC–CSN) expressed their discontent with the progress of the current bargaining round.
Despite some incremental movement at the bargaining table, CSC continues to ignore the fact that the working conditions of federal correctional officers are distinct, according to the union.
"It's understandable that the public does not know the extent of our work. But it is unacceptable when it is your own employer who shows a complete lack of understanding of our working conditions and the reality of working in a federal penitentiary," said Jeffrey Wilkins, national president of UCCO-SACC–CSN.
"Our employer behaves as if we are just like any other federal public employees. Yet, no other public sector employee has a workplace so inherently violent. We work behind walls. We work with some of Canada's most dangerous individuals. We must work to maintain the peace, rehabilitate, and protect inmates, as well as provide protection to the public.”
Collective bargaining with CSC
As things stand, the offer presented by the employer still stands at 12,5% over four years, with no danger allowance and no COVID hazard pay. The union also claimed that the CSC is arranging working schedules to have correctional workers work more days throughout the year.
"This is precisely why we continue to call on our members to show our collective strength and support for the bargaining committee. We will continue to escalate the pressure on our employer until we have a contract that is fair and representative of our unique reality," said Wilkins.
In June, Ottawa announced its intent to expand early pension eligibility for key frontline safety and security workers. Currently, only employees of CSC, along with members of the Canadian Armed Forces and the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, benefit from early retirement provisions. These allow retirement after 25 years of service without a pension reduction.
Rising violence at correctional facilities
B.C.’s regional union president John Randle said there has been a significant increase in violent incidents in prisons within the province.
“Numbers have over doubled in the last five years of assaults on correctional officers and yet the service does nothing,” Randle said, according to the report.
There has been a flood of drugs and weapons through the deliveries via drone in the prisons, he said. On top of that, the union said that officers have been subjected to assaults resulting in physical and mental injuries.
More than 9,100 violent incidents in the workplace were reported in fiscal 2022 to 2023, up 45% from the previous year, the union said, according to the report.
Amid all these, “several measures are in place to protect the safety and security of staff,” said a CSC spokesperson, according to Global News.
“This includes the appropriate security placement of offenders, an engagement and intervention model, drug detection and identification tools and ongoing staff training.
““Frontline correctional officers are qualified to use, and are provided with, the necessary security equipment to ensure their safety and security in institutions, including protective vests, self-defence tools, and restraint equipment.”
In 2023, the Federal Public Sector Labour Relations and Employment Board ruled that a reminder to staff at a BC penitentiary that safety concerns should be brought directly to management was not a threat of discipline against a worker who had told another employee about a safety concern.
