Wages, safety and overcrowding B.C. correctional priorities

Urgent action needed by the province to address critical issues, says BCGEU president George Heyman

Vancouver (9 March 2007) - Talks are continuing between the British Columbia Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU/NUPGE) and the province to increase the recruitment and retention of corrections officers (COs) and deputy sheriffs, to ensure the safety of members and to reduce overcrowding in correctional facilities.

The union says it is also addressing the wage differential between provincial and federal corrections services.

"While no additional funding has been identified in the 2007 budget, your component will continue to work with the ministers and officials to make the case for increased funding under the ‘temporary market adjustment' section of the collective agreement," the union says. "The union will also make submissions for increased funding when budget consultations begin in June."

"The pay increases negotiated in the 2006 master agreement are the first step in addressing the wage gap issue," says BCGEU president George Heyman.

"But more needs to be done to address the legitimate concerns of our members, who perform a critical role in protecting the public safety of all British Columbians."

Meeting with deputy premier

Heyman said he "took forward our members' concerns about wages, safety and overcrowding" during a recent meeting with Jessica McDonald, B.C.'s deputy premier, during a recent meeting in Victoria.

"We are concerned that the province will continue to lose qualified, experienced corrections officers and deputy sheriffs to the federal service, police, and other law enforcement agencies," Heyman adds.

"Unless the province moves soon to address these issues, we expect to see further losses of staff, higher workloads, and an increased reliance on overtime to deal with staffing shortages across the province."

Dean Purdy, component chair, underscored the need to address staff retention and overcrowding in the corrections and court system across the province.

"The provincial government needs to reduce the wage gap between provincial and federal corrections officers, and between our sheriffs and other provincial sheriffs, to retain the experienced staff and attract new recruits" said Purdy.

"They also need to invest in new facilities and increase staff levels to reduce the dangerous overcrowding situation in corrections facilities across the province."

Safety and overcrowding

The union says personal safety is an increasing concern for officers and deputy sheriffs. Since 2001, several correctional facilities have been closed, more than 500 corrections jobs have been eliminated, inmates are being double-bunked at pre-trial centres, and staff-to-inmate ratios have tripled in provincial facilities.

"We need to restore the first responder ‘rover' position and install search gates in all major court houses in the province, to protect both our sheriffs and the public," says Purdy.

Corrections officers in the Surrey Pre-trial Services Centre and in Prince George had an opportunity to reinforce these issues with the deputy premier during recent worksite visits to correctional centres across the province.

Members communicated their concerns regarding the wage gap between federal and provincial services, and explained how overcrowding has reduced the ability to properly monitor inmates while heightening tensions at corrections facilities. A report from the deputy premier on her tour is pending.

"The increased use of single escorts to transport inmates continues to threaten the personal safety of corrections officers, who do not carry weapons for self-protection," adds Purdy.

"Raising the number of inmates in the living units increases the potential for violence toward staff and inmates, and promotes a mob-like mentality," he says. NUPGE