Federal correctional workers face ‘danger pay double-cross’
July 28th
OTTAWA - The federal government is directing the Correctional Service of
Canada to stop issuing danger pay to several thousand Public Service Alliance of
Canada (PSAC) members.
"Treasury Board has arbitrarily decided that 2,000 of our members will no
longer be compensated for the stress and danger they face daily working in the
federal correctional system," says John Edmunds, President of the PSAC’s Union
of Solicitor General Employees component. "To add insult to injury, the
government also intends to recover some of danger pay that affected employees
have already received."
"It is more than a little ironic that the government will be removing the
danger pay effective August 10 - Prisoner Justice Day," says Edmunds, showing no
justice for correctional workers."
Under the collective agreement between PSAC and Treasury Board, workers are
entitled to receive danger pay, known as the Penological Factor Allowance,
recognizing that they work in hazardous circumstances. The government is relying
on a narrow interpretation of a provision that refers to employees with
"custody" of inmates or offenders to limit payments to fewer workers.
According to Edmunds, most of PSAC’s members working in the correctional
system are in close contact either with inmates in the federal penitentiaries or
with offenders in half-way houses or on parole. Many of them have committed
violent, sometimes horrendous crimes.
"The government is trying to claim that they consulted with the union and we
have agreed with their plan to drastically reduce the number of workers
receiving the allowance," says Edmunds. "That’s blatantly untrue. This is
nothing more than a double-cross in the face of assurances received by the union
during the last round of bargaining in 2004 that the allowances would not be
taken away."
"Anyone who thinks that our members don’t face danger should remember Louise
Pargeter, the parole officer who was brutally murdered on the job just last
year. The government intends to remove the allowance from some of our members
who were her colleagues and who perform similar work."
PSAC/USGE members are conducting information pickets to send a message to CSC
and to Treasury Board that the removal and recovery of danger pay is not
acceptable.
"We believe Treasury Board’s action was taken in bad faith and is contrary to
the collective agreement," says Edmunds. PSAC National President Nycole Turmel
has written to Treasury Board officials asking for a meeting before the
government’s August 10 implementation date and further actions are being
planned."
PSAC/USGE represents over 5,600 workers at CSC. They work as parole officers,
social programs officers, drivers, teachers, plumbers, pharmacy technicians, in
food services and provide administrative support in the federal
penitentiaries.
August 31st
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