I participated in the H&S Escort sub-committee meeting this week in Toronto. This was the first meeting of the JPH&SC since the passing of Curt Bishop. Before the meeting started we observed a moment of silence in honour of his memory and his years of service to this committee.
Some of the issues the employer brought to the table were:
- lack of escort opportunities for trained unclassified COs;
- COs avoiding escort assignments;
- Unclassified COs avoiding or refusing to complete escort training;
The end result was the employer needs to manage the workplace and to follow the protocols as agreed. A list was provided to the union of the unclassified COs not completing or refusing the escort training. That list identified only five (5) in the whole province that have not completed the escort training without a valid reason. Not a major concern by any stretch.
Their real concern was returning members that had retired and not received the training, as they were grandfathered into the protocol. The union stated that the employer did not make it a requirement of employment when they were rehired and as such should not take action against them now as it would be punitive. It was suggested that on a go forward basis the employer may want to make it a known condition of employment when rehiring retired members.
Some of the issues the union brought to the meeting were:
- Delays of escort vests being issued;
- Pre-booking police for hospital watches, mainly in central region;
- Immigration doing bargaining unit work on escorts;
- Access/egress to institutions regarding weapons and equipment, specific examples were OCI and Kenora Jail;
- FleetNet radios, lack of repeaters.
All are serious issues in their own right, and violations of the employers own policies, or agreements with the union.
The last issue is very disturbing in that the idea of the FleetNet radios was intended to provide continuous and uninterrupted contact with the institutions; the repeaters for the radio signal are located in the vehicles. Without the vehicle the radios are useless.
Members at the TEDC did a H&S work refusal upheld by the MOL. The employer was ordered to put in place a compliance plan. The employer has appealed this order and provided cell phones. The MOL has directed the employer that “cell phones were not a viable back-up to communications method and did not meet the intention of the order.”
The Union notified the employer a memo dated July 31 2008, which was not vetted or shared with the committee, directing escort staff to use alternate communication methods, is in violation of the MOL order and as such should be rescinded without delay.
The next JPH&S meeting is scheduled for November fourth in Windsor.
In Solidarity
Dan Sidsworth
