Out of Sight, Out of Mind, It has to Change

I show up for my shift. Once again we are short staffed. The count has risen to the point its 1 responding officer per 50 inmates. A code goes off in a range. 3 COs respond to break up an assault in a Range where 20 Offenders are living. We order them into their cells and they don't move, the assault continues. We are mandated to stop the assault. If we don't we could be charged criminally for not saving a life. We go in and put our own lives at risk to save that life. The next day we do it again with no media coverage or accolades.

A Police officer shows up for his shift. Her and her partner head out on shift. They do a routine car stop. They are suspicious so they pull their revolvers and ask the occupant, alone, to exit the vehicle. A search reveals drugs amounting to millions of dollars. The next day front page in the media is this huge drug bust.

I write of this not to say our Brothers and Sisters in the Police forces don't deserve their accolades. They put their lives at risk every day and the fact media and the public attacks them at every wrong decision or poorly publicized event sucks. They deserve to be held up and giving their medals of honour. They save lives and bring down the evils in society.

My point I make is so do we. We save lives. We are First Responders. If a fire breaks out in a prison who is their first to evacuate the people, Us. When an inmate is using a make shift weapon to stab another inmate who is there the stop it and take that inmate down, Us. When an inmate is having a heart attack or a seizure who is the first ones their to provide medical attention, US.

That's right we do all those things and not once do our faces or achievements end up in the media. The only time we ended up in the media was when the Ontario Ombudsman put out a false report about the Excessive Use of Force. Took a miniscule amount of cases, some that have been proven false, and made a mockery out of our profession. Gave the inmates the power.

Inmate on Staff assaults have jumped tremendously since that report. 855 reported attacks in 2013 and that number keeps rising. Yet none of these figures hit main street media. Inmate counts triple over 10 years and yet staffing level have not changed in over 20. We didn't create the short staffing numbers, the Governments 3 year hiring freeze did. We didn't create the jump in Inmate population, the Governments closure of Mental Health facilities and faulty Tough on Crime bill did. Yet we continue to pay the price.

Why are these facts staying out of the media? Because our Governments do not want the general public to know how awful the environment we work in is. They can play on the fact the Public only sees what a jail is like through movies and TV shows like OZ. I think its time the public started getting real info and facts.

We as a profession need to move out of the dark and into the spotlight. We need to voice our accolades and the threats we face. Start writing the papers, start talking to media. Something needs to change before our Brothers and Sisters get killed. Those running the show don't seem to care so let's make the Public care. It won't happen over night but it needs to be a consistent push.

We can do this because we always stand together and have each others backs. Be Strong, Be Solid and fight back.

We are 100% Essential, If Not We are ALL OUT!!

I write this letter as a Correctional Officer (CO) within Ontario. I feel some knowledge is needed with regards to the Labour dispute our employer, The Liberals, are about to put us through. When an impasse comes in the Collective Bargaining process, as it stands now, a strike or lock-out is called. If that happens our Correctional staff, which consists of all those that make our Corrections process run, including COs, Probation and Parole officers, Nurses, Records clerks, Rehab officers, and all others working within the walls of an institution or office, go out on what is called an Essential Service strike.

Since we are not deemed 100% Essential like our Law Enforcement and First Responder brethren, Police, Fire and Paramedics, we still have to do our job. Around 50 percent of our staff have to enter the walls with the same amount of inmates to provide the same level of care. That means the 855 assaults we faced in 2013 will have to be dealt with by less staff. That means the increased assaults by inmates on inmates will have to be broken up by less staff responding. That means the less staff supervising those inmates out on probation, the more freedoms and less checks they face.

For a job or service to be deemed Essential it must prevent:

a) danger to health, safety, and life

b) the destruction or serious deterioration of machinery, equipment or premises,

c) serious environmental damage, or

d)  disruption of the administration of the courts or of legislative drafting

I strongly feel that our work prevents all of those things to some extent and the threat of health, safety and life to my Brothers and Sisters, to the inmates and to the public is justification enough for our profession to earn the designation of 100% Essential.

Please understand that we are not asking for anything more, then to go to our jobs and protect and maintain order within our workplaces. We want what the Supreme Court decision on Right to Strike stated, an alternate mechanism, namely binding arbitration, to solve our collective bargaining impasse, when we are deemed essential.

This is an attack on public safety and the safety of all those employed in this profession. I have been very vocal publicly, along with many leaders and members of our profession, in asking this Government for recognition. We could use help. Please if you feel our jobs are important enough that we be deemed 100% Essential alongside the Police, Fire, Paramedics and Federal Corrections, go to 

https://www.change.org/p/ontario-liberal-government-make-ontario-correctional-service-workers-100-essential

Sign the petition and let your MPPs know the safety of, employees, those under our care and custody, and the general public, deserves to be recognized. No more Strikes, No more working short staffed on purpose, and No more death and injuries caused that could have been prevented.

If this Government refuses to recognize us as the Emergency Workers we are, then they should be fine with all those inside the walls being ALL OUT if a strike occurs.

In Solidarity.