Why We Need To Reject This Tentative Agreement

Sisters and Brothers of our great Corrections Division, before I start to put my opinion on paper I want to thank all of you. Every member who has given their time and dedicated countless hours to this fight with our Employer. I have never seen this Division as United as I have over the past two years. With that being said there is never complete unity in a democratic vote. I respect all opinions and those who feel this contract is what is best for the members of this division, I say good for you. It takes strong minds and strong wills to vocalize your opinion in this Division. We all need to remain professional and respectful no matter what ones opinion is. Create constructive dialogue without harassment and bullying. This is a tough time in Corrections no matter how this vote turns out. We will continue to rely on each other.

For those that have met me or read my blogs you know the effort and fight I have put in for reaching a Corrections Stand Alone agreement with Binding Arbitration. I wrote up a petition demanding the Government recognize us as 100% Essential, which has over 4500 signatures. I have traveled across the Province with other great leaders shouting from the rooftops that we need this now.

OPSEU and the Bargaining Team are recommending the Correctional Bargaining Unit accpet this Tentaive Offer. However, as President of OPSEU Local 719 Kenora Jail I am recommending the Correctional BU reject this offer in high numbers. This is also the recommendation of many Local Presidents across the Province, TBCC, TEDC, SWDC, EMDC, OCDC, Niagra Jail, Stratford Jail, MHCC, TSDC, OCI, just to name a few.

The reason behind this recommendation is that this contract falls short. We have a Crisis in Corrections and this offer does nothing in my eyes to address this crisis right now. Everyday we go into work we run the risk of injury, disease, even death. We work under policies that puts the onus on us to remain professional and safe while offenders are insulting, threatening, spitting, gassing, or assaulting us. We are brought under fire, many losing their jobs, when we protect ourselves, our coworkers, and even when we protect offenders from each other. We work with a staffing model that was drawn up 20 years ago, while the offender population has tripled, grown more brash, and become more experienced. We deal with those offenders who suffer from Mental Illness and should not even be incarcerated, if it wasn't for the Ontario Government closing our Mental Hospitals. Staffing levels have hit an all time low, leaving Institutions locked up and under staffed to complete our daily tasks. Yes these are just a few of the issues that make up the Crisis in Corrections. So how does this Liberal Government, who has wasted billions of tax payers dollars through scandal, try to solve this. They offer us an insulting, degrading contract offer with one carrot, praying we bite and believe their threats and ultimatums.

I will start with a few of the items our BT feels are wins. First being CTO, Compensating Time Off, that they removed from us unilaterally after we signed a past agreement. Some may not realize that it still exists in our CA and states under mutual agreement with employer CTO can be given. Now the Government offers us a cap of 36 hours quarterly, that can be used depending on operational needs.With our staff shortage we can not even staff every shift fully, how can we expect our employer to let someone have a day off with CTO when we are already short for the shift. There is no language that guarantees approval. I do not personaly see this as a win.

 

Many are deeming the ACL, Administrative Compensating Leave, as a raise. I am trying to understand this. There is still a question out there if it is pensionable. I don't see how this is possible due to the fact some people will use it for days off instead of cashing it out so for some it won't have added monetary value. To say it adds up to an extra 2% per year if cashed in makes no sense. For most we are so overworked that an extra 3 days off is better then the cash value. Those that use it as time off will not achieve an extra 2% in pay. Also in the era where we have an unlimited amount of Overtime available, working only two 12 hour OT shifts in the year amounts to nearly 2% gain. Is being short staffed and creating unlimited OT a win? I don't think so. We need valuable pensionable gains for our members, not bribes.

 

The salary grid freeze we are asking our newest hires to accept is for me the most insulting part of this offer. Asking new hires and those who do not have a full 6 years in to stay frozen in their current position on the wage grid for 2 years is wrong. FXTs do the exact same job as all of us at top rate. They deal with the same offenders and issues every day. We already allowed this Government to create a new level on the grid 5% lower for new hires in 2013. How can we once again ask them to suffer for us. Has anyone done the math? I will not even use a brand new hire. I will use those that were hired in the last year, the ones who would be bottom level of a CO2. They make 25.81 or 53,684.80 a year. They would have earned at one level higher, 26.61 or 55,348.80. The next year they would have earned 28.69 or 59,675.20. So in total over the 2 years they lose 7,654.40. That is a large amount of money. I have had FXTs tell me they will not be able to take a full time position and lose their 14% in lieu. We continue to raise issues for the need of new staff. This ties our hands for attracting quality staff going forward, when a new recruit can make more money in all other Law Enforcement professions. Why would he apply to be locked in with offenders for 30+ years of his life making peanuts. We never solve our hiring demand with this deal.

We have not seen an increase in wage over the past 2 year contract and this offer is asking for 2 more years of 0% increases. This is unacceptable. Wage adjustment was our Co-number one demand for our members and it was absolutely rejected. We all have seen the numbers everywhere, how far behind we are. A top rate CO2 makes 32.64 or 67,891.20, compared to top rate OPP at about 98,000, court officers through out the province making in the 80,000 range. OPP civilian clerks make over 70,000 and our own OPSEU staff secretaries make around 70,000. We have spent too much time getting shit, piss, cum, puke and blood thrown at us to make as little as we do. For those retiring in the next few years I personally apologize, as your best 5 years will be an identical salary of 67,891.20. How much money in your pension did you leave behind for fear of striking.

 

Corporations and Governments use the scare tactic that you never make back what you lose on a strike. It is a fear mongering statement to suppress working people from fighting. Now we have members on the Bargaining team using it to instill fear in our membership to accept this offer. Statements like we lose 2% of our yearly wage every week we are out, while being a true statement, can not be used to say we need to earn that back in a raise to break even. We don't and I will prove it. I am going to be throwing out 3 scenarios based on our contract from 2013-2016, 4 years, and assuming that the 1.4% in 2017 would be the same in all scenarios. Also past 2017 I will assume all the same numbers going into the future so each scenario after the 4 years would rise the same percent amount. Scenario 1: Exactly what we have had, 0% pensionable wage increases each year, so we made 67891.20 * 4 = 271,564.80. Scenario 2: Assume we went on strike in 2013, the strike lasted 4 weeks which today I can't see it lasting that long. After the strike we earn a measly 1.5% annual raise and to avoid a strike, as they know we are willing to, we get the 1.5% for 2015 and 2016. In the first year we must subtract the loss from the strike and in that year we earn only 63,687.00. Now each year with the raise our income goes 69,950.40/70,990.40/72,051.20 which totals 276,679.00, a difference of +3885.80. Scenario 3: This scenario shows the difference of choosing not to fight now and letting more years of zeros go by. So we will leave it the way it is 0% for 2013 and 2014. Now lets assume we received that same 1.5% for 2015 and 2016. So it would be 67,891.20/67,891.20/68,910.40/69,959.40 for a total of 274,643.20. Waiting 2 years to fight cost us 2,035.80. This is all pensionable earnings for when we finish our 30 years of working in a place no member of the public wants to. For one final look at the difference this makes long term, taking our 2016 ending salary in all three scenarios and assuming equal increases for the next 10 years we have a total earnings of 678,912.00 in Scenario 1, 720,512.00 in Scenario 2 and 699,504.00 in Scenario 3. That is a difference of 41,600.00 lost by not fighting now. How can we afford not to strike? Every raise matters. What if we won more then 1.5%? When inflation is rising at an average of 1.5% we have actually lost over 6% buying power for our money. When you are going into retirement that is a huge hit. Even the minimum wage is showing increases over this time. Of all the professions that deal with our criminal society we are the lowest paid individuals, ones who suffer from the highest rate of PTSD. Is this fair? NO.

The number one demand in my eyes is a Corrections Stand Alone agreement with interest arbitration, where we can bargain our own unique issues, separate from Unified members. This is being offered through language for 2018. I have spent countless hours looking over this language. I have spoken to the few Presidents that are accepting this agreement and this is the area we disagree on most. Those accepting this agreement believe this is our only way to a Corrections Stand Alone agreement. They also believe that the Employer's threat of taking Corrections Only off the table if we don't accept this contract is true. The language in the agreement leaves too many ways for the Government to back out or escape from this over the next 2 years. Examples are, ".....the parties acknowledge that any legislative amendments to CECBA 1993 will be conditional upon the direction of government.....", ".....subject to the direction of the government...","....access to interest arbitration or a meaningful right to strike....", strikes are what we are trying to avoid; "...if the parties negotiate a Correctional Stand Alone agreement....","....If any paragraph in this MOS is inconsistent with Revised CECBA , the terms of Revised CECBA  shall govern.. ". If the Government does decide to"Revise" CECBA in any form and that revision does not contain specific Language for a Stand Alone Corrections Agreement ( or Arbitration..) ,then it appears that Legislation over rides all these so-called clauses and OPSEU agreed to NO appeals. If the Government has not amended CECBA by 2018 then Appendix A kicks in. Here is the fail safe that some are banking on. What I don't understand, what I need answered is how can an Appendix to a MOA override CECBA legislation. In the end CECBA has to be amended no matter what. So how Appendix A avoids this I have no idea. If it does avoid it then why can't it do it right now and we can work on amendments as we go. This is a serious issue that needs to be addressed now not in 2018. The Liberals even added an ultimatum that if we do not accept all the other take aways they would remove the Corrections Stand Alone agreement offer for ever. If you ask me that is a bribe and bargaining in bad faith. 

 I can not honestly believe that three years ago when we created the 1st Committee to see if we could achieve the Stand Alone, we would have accepted this language. Absolutely no way. Ask yourselves this, if Corr Only was not in this offer would you even contemplate voting Yes? I don't think so, and I don't think it is strong enough to blindly accept it now. Please look at a chronological order of what we have achieved and tell me if you are satisfied. 

 

We started the committee in 2013, we took it to the convention floor where all of OPSEU told us to sit down and it will never happen, and we didn't quit. Smokey wrote a letter with over 20 points of how Corr Only couldn't, shouldn't and wouldn't ever happen, and we responded by uniting and writing multiple letters arguing his points and never quit. We were told by the same labour lawyer who is now telling us this language is solid that in his legal opinion we couldn't achieve this without opening CECBA and hurting OPSEU, yet we rallied at Grosvener where a true leader was arrested and we never quit. We even played nice at 2015 Convention where every one of our resolutions were either not heard or rejected and we never quit. We continuously were told by this same Bargaining team, who is now telling us they achieved this goal, that it wasn't a demand and we couldn't get it this round, yet we never quit. We marched on OPSEU headquarters and demanded this be taken seriously, and finally there was bend in OPSEU to look at us, because they knew we would never quit. So I say after all this on the very first offer of a Corrections Stand Alone agreement, with horribly weak language at best, we are going to quit and chance our future on a Government who hates us, a Union who's President has told us hates us, a Bargaining team who wouldn't listen to us until they saw how horrible being linked to Unified really was, and a labour lawyer who admitted opening up CECBA was too risky. This all seems surreal to me. I respect the opinions of those leaders I've fought beside but I in no way understand it.

 

My final point is in regards to the idea that if we don't ratify Corr Only is gone for ever. I see this as a pure fear mongering ultimatum the Government wants to see work. How can we not be calling them on bargaining in bad faith. I'm sure bribing people is not a good faith act. As I said above look at how far we have come. We hold the cards and the power. A strong NO vote tells them we deserve better. There is no way that this Government wants blood on their hands and they know there will be without us in these institutions or supervising offenders in the community. We are so close to the biggest wins in the history of Labour Fights. A division ignored by their own union, hated and beat down by a Government, stands solid and strong together and fights for the rights of their members both new and old. This Government asked for "net zeros", well they achieved so much more then that when Unified ratified. Why would we let them achieve better then "net zeros" with us. There is a lot of money in the coffers after Unified settled and the Employer knows, with Corrections not linked to Unified, they will forever win savings off the backs of the rest of the OPS. So why accept this very weak offer. 

 

I recommend rejecting this offer because we are worth more and this Government can't do our jobs without us. Lets stand together and show them we are right.

Amazing Letter Written By a Correctional Officers Wife

I was granted permission to post a Letter in its entirety to my blog. Why I asked for permission was simple, it is an amazing letter, written perfectly from the heart. It will touch so many people, wives, husbands, friends, family, children with relationships with those working our profession. Please take the time to read this letter. I thank the Author and the Husband who granted permission.


"This is a very powerfully written letter called CO Wife Life. Written by a coworker, friend and brother in blue's, wife and partner for life.
Take the time to read this. It's quite something.

Dear Mr. Yasir Naqvi,

I would like to take this opportunity to open your eyes to the reality and daily struggles that I personally face as the wife of a Correctional Officer. My husband isn’t aware that I am writing this to you, but as I watch him come home every night, beyond exhausted and extremely stressed due to the possible upcoming strike, things need to change to better the lives of all of the men and women who continue to put their lives and safety on the line every day while working at the Ottawa Carleton Detention Centre.

My husband has been working at OCDC for 9 years now. We have been together for 7 years and I continue to watch him deteriorate; physically, mentally, and emotionally due to his line of work. My husband has been involved and a part of major situations that I am sure that you have read about and he has most likely seen more in the past 9 years then you, or anyone else for the matter will see throughout your whole lives.

My husband has witnessed disturbing fights and seen gruesome injuries yet he continues to risk his life immediately and without any hesitation when the emergency alarm sounds to break up serious altercations between inmates. He has witnessed horrific suicide attempts, yet has gone beyond and above to save several lives of inmates who are ungrateful and continue to attempt to commit suicide on a daily basis. Unfortunately, he has also witnessed horrifying deaths that have caused him to struggle with post traumatic stress issues, unpredictable mood swings, and violent night terrors that I have to try to wake him up from on a nightly basis.

Due to his line of work as a Correctional Officer, my husband has developed major anxiety issues and would rather stay in the comfort and safety of his own home then being out in public on any occasion. Simple things that couples take for granted, such as going out for a nice dinner in the downtown core, going to a movie, or going to a crowded concert or sporting event are out of the question now thanks to the toll of his job.

We had our first child together and his two year old daughter is his complete life and world yet he has missed and continues to miss out on major milestones of her life because he is required to spend the majority of his time at the jail. Depending on his scheduled 12 hour shifts and mandatory overtime that he is required to work, he can go upwards of 4 days to a week without seeing his little girl which clearly affects the emotional well being of our daughter who struggles to understand why her Daddy is never home. While most families who work “9am-5pm” jobs continue to live happy and healthy lives, eat family dinners together, and bring new children into this world, we struggle with the decision of having another baby at this time because being married to a Correctional Officer leaves me with the feeling of being a “single married mom”; never realizing how lonely and depressing being the spouse of a CO would be. My husband often times works more hours in 1 week then most public servants will work in 2 weeks. He is barely around on weekends and night shifts put us on complete opposite schedules yet I have to be strong and put a smile on my face while trying to reason with our little girl while she cries for her Daddy to be home to lay with her in bed at night.

My husband has missed out on numerous family events, birthdays, Easter holidays, Thanksgiving dinners, and Christmas celebrations. This year especially, my daughter and I are the ones who missed out on enjoying a summer holiday with him because he was denied vacation time due to the lack of staff issue at OCDC. I completely understand that working holidays is a required part of their job, yet I struggle to understand why Correctional Officers are currently fighting to be considered an essential service when they are the front-line employees who make that jail run on a daily “24/7” basis despite all of the struggles and lack of support that they are currently dealing with.

While the stress of my husband’s job continues to take a toll on his overall health and daily life, the constant advice that people offer is “get another job” which is easier said than done. The co-workers that my husband works with everyday have become a part of his family and the only reason why he continues to go into that dysfunctional, unsafe, and chaotic working atmosphere is for the well being of his “shift brothers and sisters.” Correctional officers right now are doing their jobs despite obeying the proper safety protocol and spending countless hours writing detailed incident reports because they are so short staffed. Inmates are extra aggressive and angry right now and most upper management don’t care about staffs issues and concerns on the floor, so the only people that my husband can rely on for support are his “brothers and sisters in blue”.

Unfortunately, being a CO requires my husband to be married to his job, just as much, if not more than he is married to me and his family. As hard as it is for him to go into that jail every day, he takes pride in being a CO and his daily intention is to protect his staff and inmates from harm while knowing that he is at risk of being assaulted at any given time. Being a Correctional Officer right now is like walking on eggshells since they are unable to do their jobs properly without having the constant worry of being investigated or losing their jobs for anything they say or do. It has gotten to the point where inmates have more people advocating for their rights and well being than the CO’s do right now which is a clearly a huge issue. Ironically enough, the only articles that have been published in the media, over the last year especially, are inmate-centered and force the public to view Correctional Officers as monsters. I think that it’s time that the media starts publishing articles on the mental health issues that CO’s have developed from post traumatic situations and the depression, anger, and fear that they live with on a daily basis. It takes an extremely strong and dedicated type of person to do the job that these men and women do around the clock to protect our community. The least they can ask for right now is being recognized as an essential service to get the recognition and appreciation that they deserve.

I have written this letter to you based on my personal struggles as the spouse of a CO but I feel that I speak for many CO wives when I share this information with you. I ask that while you read this letter, please relate with me on a personal level. Living with a Correctional Officer is almost impossible, yet this is what I signed up for when I decided to marry my husband and start a family. Seeing the daily struggles that my husband now faces in his everyday life is very upsetting compared to the “happy-go-lucky” person who I met 7 years ago. These CO’s have been without a contract for a year now and they have been given minimal information during this time creating even more stress on their already pressured lives. That being said, as the Minister of Community Safety and Correctional Services, these men and women need your support more than anything right now and they need your voice to advocate for their well being during this very important time in their careers."

Thank you for reading this and please share everywhere. This needs to get out there.

Ontario Corrections Moving Forward

Many of you have had your say or heard other points of view on what I can only describe as a shameful outcome for the OPS Tentative Agreement vote. The only thing that vote showed me was that too many people just follow what those in power tell them to do, instead of educating themselves based on facts. Facts were obvious, the offer as a whole was no where near "net zero" that the Government was selling. It was so far from "net zero", that someone with an ability to do common math could figure out we lost. Yet there was our Union and our Bargaining team selling this as the best we could get. They based the whole sale on the fact that they beat back the original concessions the Government wanted, therefore it was a win. Well Brothers and Sisters the only way you can judge a new contract is with comparison to the last contract, and when looked at through those eyes anyone can see we lost, a whole bunch, with nothing to cheer about as a win. Enough of that though as its too late to change anything now.

The true outcome of the vote, was how certain it showed the divide within the OPS. Many of you have read my continuous rants and reasons why Corrections does not belong with the rest of the OPS. This vote solidified that even more. 78% voted in favour for Unified, which is astronomically high considering the offer at hand, however only 67% voted yes for Central. Assuming that the same 78% of Unified voted for the Central it would have taken almost a perfect 100% of Corrections members, due to our low numbers, to vote against the deal to bring it down a full 11%. If that does not tell members of the current Unified and those on the bubble in Corrections that both sides do not belong together, I don't know what does. But I'll try to define it better by looking at this Central Agreement we have to live with going forward.

The first point is with the new rules added for LTIP and WSIB. In the Correctional environment our danger and risk of injury or Occupational Illness is much higher then the rest of the OPS. This means that the language in these articles calling for Mandatory Rehab, paying WSIB at the rate when injured, and making it more difficult to remain on LTIP, disproportionately effects Correctional Members. Yet even though we voted near 100% against this damaging language, we are still bound by it. In my eyes this language is a direct attack on my Human Rights based on the code. It is a direct attack on our family doctors and their credentials and a complete disrespect of our individual values and morals. We as Corrections staff can not allow this.

The next point is Termination pay. All I heard was that the Government is taking everyone's severance pay so we should be happy we got an extra year. Has anyone done the math? You could lose anywhere from $20,000 to $70,000. That my friends is a huge lose. If you are asking me to give that up then you should at least make a gain for my pension somehow. That never happened.

There are just too many negatives to this new agreement to accept. So now is definitely the time to accept the word of our Corrections leadership. To sit down and realize that there is an easy choice to make coming soon to a ballot near you. OPSEU and the Ad-hoc committee on Corrections Stand Alone Agreement has agreed to put this question to an actual membership vote. You as a Corrections Bargaining Unit member will finally have a say. After the petitions and the rallies and the interviews, OPSEU has finally gave the power to us. So don't waste it. Get out and vote. Decide your future as I think its a simple answer and that answer is YES.

It has been 3 full years now that I have been fighting for Corrections Only. From the original committee set up after the 2012 agreement, through the many letters and emails to Smokey Thomas, to the online petition at Change.org to make Corrections staff 100% essential. I have never wavered. I ran for the position of EBM so I can bring my leadership and fight for the working class to all areas of OPSEU but was told I would never get elected because I was a leader in the Corrections fight to divide OPSEU. That wasn't our goal and still isn't. Those potential EBMs who were vocally against Corrections Only were supported for wanting to keep OPSEU together and yet I never wavered, I stood by my beliefs, and I lost. No matter the question and no matter the risk to my future goals or accomplishments, I have always stood by my desire for a Corrections Stand Alone agreement. As so many other Corrections leaders have done so. I thank all of them for their unwavering support for this cause. Why we all did this was because we believed this was the best choice for our members.

Here we are today with those same EBMs and the same nay sayers realizing that Corrections Stand Alone agreement is the only fair and just thing for our division. The issues we face are distinct and unique to all others in OPSEU. We need support and I am proud to be part of the amazing leadership through out Corrections that has never faltered or wavered on this fact. It simply isn't an option to remain in the current state. We need to have all our voices heard. Listen to your Local leaders, attend info sessions when they happen and show up to Vote.

For those in Community Corrections reading this please go read this great piece, written by a member who I see as a current and future leader in our Division....Why Probation Officers Should Consider a Corr Only Agreement

I look forward to discussing this and our future with anyone who wants to ask.