On the morning of October 5th, we held bilateral talks with the Director General of Labour Relations & Assistant Commissioner of Correctional Operations & their team to discuss several items. In the afternoon, we met with the Commissioner of Corrections. Here is a brief summary of those discussions.
NLMC with the Commissioner
The Commissioner opened up by commenting on the release of our video “Working on the Edge”. First congratulating the Union on this project stating it was “extremely well done & presented”, he then went on to thank the courageous officers in our video who told their stories openly. The Union asked that these members be supported if needed, following the courageous testimony given during the release of this project. The Commissioner replied with “absolutely”.
The Union raised concerns around the diminished use of segregation and provided CSC senior management with examples in the morning at bilateral talks. The Commissioner was unsure of the exact status of Bill C-56 (amendment to the CCRA on Admin Segregation) but stated that they were monitoring impacts of policy decisions around administrative segregation. The Commissioner also emphasized that there is “no race to zero” in terms of emptying out segregation and that segregation remains an important tool for the safety & security of our institutions. He encouraged us to bring concerning cases to the attention of senior management, including himself.
On the issue of the Fentanyl protocol we informed the Commissioner that there remains some outstanding issues with the policy around Fentanyl and that specific recommendations had come from the National Health & Safety Policy Committee (NHSPC) to senior management for decision. In particular the need for accurate information & training to clarify fact from fiction and to alleviate staff anxiety. We asked the employer to support the committee’s recommendations. The Commissioner agreed that the education component around this matter needed addressing.
The Commissioner mentioned his most recent General Communique around CSC’s stance on zero tolerance for harassment & bullying in the workplace. We also indicated that we do not condone any forms of harassment in the workplace and that education & prevention are key in eliminating workplace harassment. As a Union, we support and will work towards harassment-free work environment at all institutions.
ACHRM Bilateral Meeting
GRIEVANCES
Overtime MOA — We flagged problems with CSC in resolving some of these grievances since signing the MOA and provided examples. We notified the employer if we can’t reach good faith settlements on these we will move to mediation/arbitration. The employer will get back to us.
Grievance decision on the 200 hours—CSC will provide a framework for a settlement to resolve these grievances before our next NLMC.
Meal Allowance — We sent to CSC the cases we envision going to mediation/arbitration. CSC informed us that they will review them and mentioned that 8 settlements had been sent back to us for our consideration.
IODL Settlement—CSC has indicated that they will table a settlement template for our consideration at the Global agreement discussions on the 19th of October. More come on this file.
CSC computer access for the Union—Once again, we reiterated our position to have a computer for multiple reasons, including read only access for schedules, which will also help us to fix union dues issues as a result of Phoenix. CSC will come back to us but has indicated their support for this based on our rationale.
Cowansville discipline—CSC indicated that this was a regional decision. We maintain the penalties in this case were way too severe for the actions taking on a punitive role rather than corrective. The Union will propose a less severe sanction before going to adjudication. CSC indicated that they will review our submission but gave no guarantees of a reduction.
Employer rights & Privileges MOA — The Union will counter propose something to CSC before the next NLMC to protect our members’ rights modelled after our 2009 MOA which will include CSC’s counter to ensure that a manager directly in the incident should not be involved in the investigation process and disciplinary decisions. More to come on this.
Self-Scheduling report (National Joint Scheduling Sub-Committee) — We will meet with the Commissioner to discuss the recommendations (which include more flexibility for shift exchanges) and the next steps, if any, from this report during our global agreement discussions.
Other topics of discussion included : Language requirements affecting deployments in Atlantic, Phoenix issues and the application of shift premiums for day workers in Atlantic, and terms of settlement template for grievance/mediation agreements to ensure consistency.
ACCOP Bilateral Meeting
We raised concerns about the number of security incidents including assaults on staff occurring at RPC in Saskatoon. We also gave a ridiculous example of difficulties of segregating inmates, following a major inmate on inmate assault. We suggested that we go visit the site to see what could be done there to reduce incidents & make things safer. The employer will come back to us on this suggestion. We both agreed that this site is on the radar.
40 mm gas gun—Again we agreed that where the 37 mm gas gun exists it will be replaced with the 40 mm. We also asked that the employer provide us with an evaluation of the Penn arms multi launcher before discontinuing the pilot.
New Vehicle for Dog Handlers—After much consultation, we have agreed on a new replacement vehicle for the dog handlers (Ford Explorer). We also emphasized to CSC that we must be fully engaged in consulting us on the new escort vehicle. CSC agreed.
CD 004—We agreed to meet and discuss outstanding issues with CD 004 on October 30th. CSC informed us that the policy has been promulgated in May and signed off by the Commissioner and shared with us but the 2009 annexes will remain in place until we finish our consultations. We asked that CSC provide and clarify that we are indeed using the 2009 standards as we can no longer access it on the info net for security reasons. CSC agreed.
Dual Threat Vests—Consultation has started on the new vest and the Union is suggesting that the specs may need adjusting, and to look at a more breathable carrier. The employer is open to working on specs that meet our needs. More to come on this file.
Transgender inmate Policy — We had a lengthy discussion around this subject raising several operational concerns which we have officially submitted in writing through the formal consultation process. CSC assured us that they will share a draft policy with us for further consultation and confirmed they had indeed received our comments for consultation.
CD 600 Emergency Response—After consulting on this CD we have agreed on the composition of the teams and this CD will be signed off soon.
CD 568-8 (Use of surveillance cameras on staff)—After consulting with the privacy commissioner & following a complaint filed by the Union was upheld we resubmitted several additional concerns with this CD and have provided CSC with our issues. CSC has received and will come back to us.
CD 843—We raised issues about the meaning of constant observation and the number of monitors that can be observed by staff for inmates on modified suicide watch. The union insists that cameras should be on one monitor and that multiple monitors should be limited to two. We also disagree with monitoring an inmate in a common room as was the situation in Quebec while watching another monitor. CSC will come back to us on the issues we raised.
We also discussed a subcommittee for new protective gloves, Miranda rights, Pen placements (CD 705), family link project, and new use of force check box/Observation report.
For more details reach out to your local President or Regional reps.
Future meetings;
NLMC — November 2, 2017
Negotiations with the Treasury Board—November 15, 16 & 17, 2017