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