Inmates moved out of local jails as strike threat looms

An inmate is ushered into a van before being transferred away from the Brantford Jail on Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016.

At the start of the week, about 85 prisoners were being housed in the Brantford Jail.

By Thursday morning, that number was down to 40 – and 24 hours away from being zero.

Similar scenarios are playing out in Stratford and other cities across the province with smaller jails, in advance of a possible strike by correctional workers represented by the Ontario Public Services Employees Union.

A strike or lockout of affected OPSEU members could occur as early as 12:01 a.m. next Sunday.

Daniel Wardell is the president of OPSEU Local 247, which represents guards at the Brantford Jail.

He says OPSEU is asking for health and safety concessions, as well as an immediate 10 per cent pay jump, followed by annual two per cent increases – which he says would put them more in line with other frontline workers in Ontario’s corrections system.

“We’re fighting, more or less, for respect and recognition as first responders in the jails,” he said.

In a statement to CTV News, a spokesperson for the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services said that “comprehensive contingency plans” are ready should a labour disruption occur.

“The safety of inmates and staff as well as the security of our correctional institutions and communities remain our top priority,” Greg Flood said.

In the event of a strike, Flood said, the contingency plans would cover “essential operations and services, including health care services, meals, and transportation of inmates to and from court.”

Employees at the Brantford Jail have already been told to report to work in Hamilton next Monday.

Jail guards are not the only provincial employees affected by the labour dispute.

It also covers probation and parole officers.

According to Danielle Du Sablon, the secretary of the union chapter representing those workers in the Brantford area, the work normally done by 17 officers will be assigned to one manager.

That manager – potentially with support from colleagues from other branches of the civil service – will be responsible for supervising about 700 offenders who are out of custody on probation or parole.

“There’s a significant risk to public safety,” Du Sablon said Thursday.

The strike would also mean the temporary closure of probation and parole offices in Simcoe and Caledonia, with people in those areas asked to check in with the Brantford office instead.

In Kitchener, preparations are being made to keep the courthouse open and running into the evening hours in anticipation of prisoner transfer delays.