Information pickets at three federal penitentiaries to protest Correctional Service's attitude at the bargaining table

OTTAWA - Correctional Officers members of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) will hold information pickets on Wednesday, August 23, 2000, at the Collins Bay (Kingston, Ontario), Grand Valley (Kitchener, Ontario) and Springhill (Springhill, Nova Scotia) penitentiaries, to support the Correctional Officer negotiating team and to protest the employer’s intransigethe intransigence at the bargaining table. Senior management at these three institutions represent the employer at the bargaining table.

Negotiations between the PSAC negotiating team representatives and CSC and Treasury Board of Canada broke down on August 10 after the employer tabled an insulting monetary offer. The offer of 2% per year in 2000, and 2% and an increment in 2001, does not properly value the professional work done by Correctional Officers (CX) and their exceedingly difficult working conditions. It further contradicts the employer's statement that the "CX are a unique group and do deserve more than the general public service."

The information pickets will show the determination of the 5,000 Correctional Officers to obtain a fair and equitable collective agreement. The conditions of employment for the CXs, imposed by Parliament last year, expired on May 31, 2000. The PSAC has asked for the assistance of a conciliation officer.

Details of the info pickets are:

Date:                 Wednesday, August 23, 2000

Place and time:

• Grand Valley Institution for Women

          1575 Homer Watson Blvd., Kitchener, Ontario

          6:30 to 9:00 a.m.

• Collins Bay Institution

455 Bath Road, Kingston, Ontario

          From 6:00 a.m.

• Springhill Institution

          330 McGee Street

          Springhill, Nova Scotia

          From 7:00 a.m.

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Spokespersons:

Jérôme Turcq, PSAC Regional Executive Vice-President, Quebec, (514) 875-2690

John Edmunds, USGE National Executive Vice-President, (613) 536-0293

Contacts:

Todd Woytiuk, PSAC regional representative, Kitchener, (519) 659-1124

Doug Kosakowski, PSAC regional rep.resentative, Kingston, (613) 542-7322

Gary Bannister, PSAC regional representative., Halifax, (902) 443-3541

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