The employer continues to ignore the problems experienced by correctional officers in institutions across the country.
After the summer break, negotiations resumed with Treasury Board this week in Ottawa.
The UCCO-SACC-CSN negotiation committee took advantage of this break to prepare offers and seek solutions to the problems experienced by correctional officers. Unfortunately, the employer came to the negotiation table empty-handed, offering no solutions, making no counter-proposals and categorically refusing all of the union’s demands, while asking for several concessions on correctional officers’ working conditions. In doing so, the employer continued to ignore most of the problems experienced by correctional officers, repeatedly reiterating that the status quo was acceptable.
The specificity of our work
While UCCO-SACC-CSN argues that CXs have a unique, important and dangerous job – which requires working conditions adapted to the specificity of their work – the employer openly expresses the following vision: correctional officers are federal civil servants like all others who do not deserve any special treatment. Such a stance shows an obvious lack of respect and consideration for correctional officers who, unlike most civil servants, continued to work (in person) in institutions during the pandemic, and continue to keep Canadians safe in extremely difficult conditions.
Your negotiation committee is determined to obtain a new collective agreement that takes into consideration the specific reality of correctional officers. You can count on it!
The next negotiation dates were scheduled for November 14 to 16, but the new negotiator will be unable to attend for personal reasons. Therefore, the date of the next session and the identity of the next negotiator have yet to be confirmed. Regardless of who the next Treasury Board negotiator will be, we hope that the employer will seize this opportunity to change the dynamic at the negotiation table and adopt a more constructive approach.
Proud. United. Strong.
Your negotiation committee.
UCCO-SACC-CSN