Members Letter to Premier Wynne

Today I was sent a letter from a member. I thought I would share it in its original form. Please read and share. I would love to see this printed in the Newspapers. It says it all when it comes to how this Government treats its employees.

An Open Letter to Premier Wynne from a Sick Corrections Officer

Ms. Wynne:

After years of exemplary attendance, I called in sick today and I have been asked by one of your public servants for a note from my doctor telling him “Why you’re sick”.  I explained that I would not be able to get to see my doctor immediately and, by the time I was, he would have no idea why I was sick other than what I would tell him.  Unlike my employer, I’m sure he would take me at my word.  At this suggestion, I was told that I should go to emergency to see a doctor.  I replied I had no intention of sitting in emergency for hours, as this would do nothing to help me.  I did assure your manager, that he would get his note.  As it will take some time to get this, here are my personal thoughts in the hope that it will serve some cathartic benefit to my poor health. 

Why am I sick?

I am sick because every day this week, and earlier last year, I walked down the driveway to my place of employment and saw hundreds of thousands of dollars of public money being wasted to provide accommodations for managers in the event of a labour dispute. Work that began before labour negotiations were even initiated.  First it was utility hookups in 2014 before we even began bargaining, then this week one trailer, then 3, then 5 and now 7 have rolled into our parking spaces.  If your intent was to foment anger it was a very effective policy.  I humbly suggest that a better policy would have been to negotiate in good faith.

I am sick because your government can’t seem to do anything to provide a fair contract and safe working conditions for your employees and yet you so readily waste millions of dollars in a completely unnecessary battle of wills.  I have heard over $100,000,000 so far to prevent about 6,200 from getting a fair contract.  That’s about $ 16,129 per person and the real spending hasn’t even started.

I am sick that because they don’t have a union to protect them, managers are to remain in the institutions.  You think that providing scabs for backup will make it better for them when, in fact, it will put them in further danger. Pay at double time and a half doesn’t do you much good, when you’re separated from your family, at work around the clock, broken down from stress, or worse, injured while working under unsafe conditions. It is why I have personally chosen not to work any overtime despite a staffing shortage.

I am sick that in the event of a strike, nurses, cooks, office staff, and maintenance staff will remain behind in this unsafe environment as well.

I am sick because when it was clearly obvious many years ago that there would be a severe shortage of staff coming, the government’s decision was to put in place a hiring freeze, forcing us to the point where we are short staffed almost every working day.  More recently, further wage reductions at the entry level were ratified, reducing incentives to work in the field of corrections. How does this help?

I am sick because since I started my career in corrections the offender population in my institution has tripled. Nothing much else has been put in place to deal with this effectively, not staffing, not infrastructure.  The use of the term Corrections in naming this ministry is a farce.  Many days we can’t even get the garbage out.  Yes, we have a few lazy staff as do all workplaces, but mostly they’re just worn out and beaten down from trying to do too much with too little. 

I am sick because accommodating three to four people in a cell not much larger than most home bathrooms, often locked down for days, cannot do much to affect rehabilitation.  I never foresaw a day when I would feel sorry for any offender.  It has come.

I am sick because the behavioural sink created within our institutions has created an unnecessarily dangerous environment within which to work. 

I am sick because the situation this government has created will likely result in good people being hurt.

I could go on, but I’m feeling a little bit better now.

And finally, I am sick because there were a lot of illnesses within the disgusting third-world environment where I work, and I was unfortunate enough to pick something up.  I slept in until 10:30 in the morning after my evening shift and woke up with a sore throat, achy all over and a headache.  This is the point where I called in sick.  The request for a doctor’s note did nothing to help me feel better, only make me feel angrier.  I haven’t been asked for one since I was in public school and I’ve grown up since then.  I count the days and thank God I retire soon.  Such governance makes me feel sick and tired all the time.

A note from my doctor will follow, as requested.

Your faithful public servant,

John Haller CO2

Dear Ontario Taxpayers

Dear Ontario Taxpayers,

I write you today, not to explain the crisis in Corrections, you can read my previous entries to catch up on that, but to explain the huge waste of our dollars going on right now in Ontario. As of December 31, 2014 the Ontario Liberals and the Ontario Public Service have been negotiating a contract. Currently the Corrections Division still remains without one. I will get into what the Corrections Division is looking for later but first I want to show the inappropriate use of funds.

Prior to bargaining even starting the Ontario Government was spending our tax payer money on preparing for a strike. Please check out this article which explains the 5.8 million dollars wasted. I have seen plans dating to August 29, 2014 for sleeper trailer layouts and positioning on Kenora Jail property. Yes that reads right, August 2014, months before bargaining even began. How can this not be considered bargaining in bad faith? There was no intention to settle unless they destroyed our profession.

Since this time the have bargained a tentative agreement that would have seen our division take a 5 year wage freeze, would have frozen new hires in the grid, and would have made those retiring from a much too long career, go out with 5 stagnant wage years. Luckily we stood together and rejected this deal by 67%. This Liberal Government has wasted billions on the Gas Plant scandal, ORNGE, P3s, and more but states they have no money in the coffers. Then less then a week after we reject a deal they said could not be made better due to there fiscal plan of "net zero" bargaining, surprise surprise, there is $58 million in raises for their managers. Funny how that works. Wonder if they had already planned the announcement thinking we would accept their offer, then forgot to pull the news?

So now we are here today, 5 days away from a strike, and all across the Province sleeping quarters are being delivered. In Kenora where we only have 10 managers, there is four trailers, each with 3 doors to different suites. That is 2 more doors then managers. So if you can't see the waste of funds over this, the Government is also buying luxury furniture from stores like The Brick and Leon's to furnish these trailers. They are hiring contractors to tear up ground to run gas lines to these trailers so they are properly heated. I can not wait to see the total cost when it finally comes out.

If all this wasn't enough you would think they would have at least kept our tax dollars in Ontario. Not a chance. The Liberals have brought the trailers from Alberta, they have hired a Western Canada security company to sit on site and take pictures of our front line Correctional Officers, who will be walking the line in the freezing cold for respect and a fair contract.

So I ask you, as a tax payer, does this sound fair? Does this sound like a Government that cares? Does this look like a Government that has Community safety as a priority? I don't think so. They are spending money out of province to put hard working professionals on the picket lines, starving their families and causing non reparable damage to the relationships within the workplaces between management and front line staff. They do all this behind their cushy Political posts that never see them get their hands dirty. All this for what?

Corrections has asked for a few simple things. First and foremost we want to be respected as First Responders. We are the first ones to respond to any type of emergency within our walls. Fire, Heart Attack, Assaults, we are the first on the scene. This demand costs nothing. We want to be made a stand alone bargaining unit with binding arbitration and NO Right to Strike. This Government will no longer have to waste millions on strike prep, relationships within our workplaces will not be plagued with labour bargaining strain, and never will you have offenders unsupervised in the community. Police, Fire, and Paramedics are recognized this way, so why wouldn't we be. Again this demand costs the Liberals nothing fiscally.

When it comes to wage, we ask that our new hires be able to move through a wage grid that has been in effect for decades. How can you recruit or maintain quality staff if there is no raise in sight. We do a thankless job and deserve our ability to earn a fair wage. Again this is already in our contract so it costs the Liberals nothing. Finally we ask for a wage adjustment and raise to bring us more in line with those doing similar work. We currently earn 40% less then a 1st constable OPP officer, we earn $15,000 less then Court Officers who deal with the offender a tenth of the time we do in an area most offenders are trying to behave. For what we are demanding it would cost the Liberals less then the raise they gave their managers.

So all I ask as a fellow tax paying citizen of Ontario, is you contact your MPP and let them know their inappropriate use of funds and their disrespect for the front line Correctional staff needs to stop. Their future as MPPs depend on it because in a country with a democracy, we the people hold the power to change this Province.

Sincerely,

James Nowe

My New Year's Resolution

Today I write thinking of what I want for 2016. I'm not going to make false resolutions about health and wellness, or making myself a better person. I am who I am and I will continue to be me no matter what I chose to change in my life. My New Year's resolution this year is not going to be easy to achieve but its needed for a brighter future. This year I want to resolve the issues in Ontario Corrections. I want to make our profession one that is respected and revered. One that the public is aware of, one that demands the respect of the Government, one that our youth want to become a part of.

This is not going to be easy but I think I will start here. I am going to write my opinion of the Corrections division, my thoughts on improvements, and steps we all can take to move us closer to our Law Enforcement brethren. To simplify things I will break it down into separate points and try my best to not let my anger and passion in our current situation overtake me, though that would be impossible.

1. Here is a quick update of the last 30 days on the job in Ontario. I may miss some things but these are incidents that I know have happened. TSDC had a fire, which inmates started  and were using the Fire to assault staff. Over 10 Officers were taken to the Hospital with smoke inhalation. The Fire suppression measures did not work to protect staff or inmates, yet no one was held accountable. Days later the same institution had a water pipe burst, causing a ceiling in staff area to collapse. Luckily no one was hurt, but this did cost the Government money to repair. Repairs on a brand new state of the art building that the P3 deal to build was a total waste. We had a major riot, according to the Ministry a minor disturbance, that resulted in a CO being taken hostage and total destruction of the top floor of the TBDJ. While the Police, Fire, Paramedics waited outside our staff and Crisis teams dealt with the riot and safely negotiated the staff member out of the area. We have had fires at multiple institutions. Disturbances at Sudbury Jail and CECC. Serious inmate stabbings at MHCC and OCDC, where frontline staff not Paramedics, were on the scene first to risk their safety to save an inmates life.There has been a sexual assault on a female officer at CNCC. There has been numerous inmate on staff assaults, one at CECC that left a CO with 10 staples in his head, inmate on inmate assaults, where the crisis intervention teams have been deployed. This is in one month. This is our job. 
2.  It seems like the problems are never ending. We can not keep up as our staff is being burned out and over worked. WE can not sustain running Jails based on Officers working 1000 hours of OT per year. We continue to run our Institutions drastically short staffed. Our Inmate counts continue to grow to levels that can not be contained. How did we get here? Well 5 years ago this Government in its infinite wisdom decided to have a hiring freeze. Over these 5 years we have lost over 1000 staff members. The Minister loves to brag about his 500 hires every time he talks but come on now, anyone can see through this. If over 1000 have left the job and you've only hired 500, it's pretty easy to see how short staffed we are. When it comes to counts, we are seeing a huge influx of remanded inmates. Causing some Institutions to be nearly double capacity. We have 3 inmates in 4 by 8 cells locked down with less staff to respond then ever. Kenora has seen 4 inmates in some cells. Counts as high as 24 in one range that only one staff enters to unlock and lock down. Other Institutions are just as bad. We need more staff, we need to retain the staff we have, and we need to make this a job that people want to work in for their careers.
3. I am going to give a brief overview of Community corrections, I am not a PPO or do I claim to know all their issues, however I do know this. I know that Ontario has the highest workloads in Canada, they are the third lowest paid in the country, and their responsibilities continue to grow without help. This Government is slowly destroying their workforce and making it impossible to retain quality staff. During what is gearing up to be a strike on January 10th at 0001 hours, there will be over 50,000 Offenders on Probation and Parole in Ontario with no one supervising them. No one writing warrants for arrests for breaches. No one making sure they check in or stick to their conditions. This includes Sex Offenders, Murderers, Rapists, all of whom will be walking among the public unsupervised. This scares me and I would hope it scares you. While we want respect, we also want to protect the public but this Government doesn't care. They would rather prove a point then keep track of the Sexual predators walking among us. I say Shame. 
4. So now I come to the Contract negotiations that have been going on for over a year now. In that time this Government has spent over 10 million dollars on Strike prep, given their Managers raises amounting to over $58 million dollars, are putting Managers on stand by pay until the Strike happens, and paying Managers, Scabs, and former managers 2.5 times their wage for every hour they are locked in during the Strike. How in the world is this fiscally responsible? How does this amount to "net zeros"? As a taxpayer I would be very sickened that this Government wants to balance its budget, after multiple illegal scandals, off the backs of front line staff. They have asked the Front line staff to take what amounts to 5 years of 0% raises. They have asked us to freeze the wages of the newest hires. They have asked us to reduce benefits and let our sick and vulnerable staff be taken advantage of. Well we have said no more. We are ready to fight this scandal filled Government. So we asked for a fair deal. We asked for an immediate wage adjustment, to bring us closer in line with our Law Enforcement brothers and sisters, we asked for a minor wage increase each year of the contract, we asked for the new hires to move through a wage grid that was agreed to in past bargaining, all of which would cost the Government less then they have already spent. What did the Liberals say, they said No, you are not worth that, they said No, public safety is not worth that, they said No, you can go out and starve and destroy your friendships and families because we won't ever respect you. This is wrong. 
5. Our final request to the Employer was that we be moved off the bargaining table with the greater OPS. That we are moved to our own table to negotiate our own unique issues. That we lose the Right to Strike and move to Interest Arbitration, as Police, Fire, And Paramedics already have, to solve our bargaining impasses. How much money would that save? How many friendships and families would not striking save? They don't want to give this to us out of fear that an Arbitrator would rule we are too underpaid. That right there is enough to tell me and all the public that this Government admits they disrespect us. This request costs them nothing right now.It makes our Front line staff in our Institutions and Communities Essential and recognizes our importance as First Responders.

So what can we do? First and foremost we can stop fighting among ourselves. We can stop the divide that the Employer always attempts to create. We can follow our Local elected leaders who have fought hard together to take this division to where it is today. We have never been more together as a Province, we have never been stronger, so lets come together and fight from the same side. Community, Institutions and Youth Officers all as one united team.

Then we need to keep the pressure on the employer through the media and opposition parties. Jennifer French and Rick Nicholls have been amazing in their support of us. Local media outlets across the province have finally seen the shit we face and are showing us the respect we all deserve. We need to remain professional and continue to report our incidents, our issues and our search for respect to these people. Finally we need to make it public. Why does the public support Police, Fire, and Paramedics? They do an amazing job right in the pubic eye. No one knows what we do or what we deal with. No one knows the assaults we face daily. No one knows the situations our Employer puts us in during every shift. They need to know. Please stop just sharing these write ups and articles and statements on only Corrections groups and sites. This all needs to be published to the broader public. Write letters to your MPPS, write letters to your newspapers, but remember we are professionals. To be respected as such we need to act as such.

You see today I woke up and realized this is the year. 2016 is going to be a defining year for me. I will be able to look myself in the mirror every day and smile, knowing I am fighting for the thankless profession of Corrections. I can smile knowing I am making a difference in this world. I can smile knowing I have the best Brothers and Sisters watching my back. I can smile knowing that unlike the Liberals I will always be able to say I treat people with respect. I don't think this Government can even look in the mirror, at least I hope they can't, because if they can and they do smile, they are truly horrible people.