Three years without a contract - Federal correctional officers to demonstrate at every CSC penitentiary Friday morning

MONTREAL, May 30, 2013 /CNW Telbec/ - Federal correctional officers will conduct early-morning information pickets outside each of Correctional Service Canada's 52 penitentiaries Friday, May 31, to mark the third anniversary that they have been without a valid collective agreement.

The labour contract covering the 7500 members of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO-SACC-CSN) expired May 31, 2010. Since then, they have seen their workplaces become significantly more violent as a growing inmate population and institutional closures lead to higher rates of double bunking and overcrowding.

Despite this, Treasury Board of Canada negotiators refuse to offer salary raises that would allow correctional officers to keep pace with inflation, much less with raises afforded RCMP officers, a principle enshrined in the last collective agreement signed in 2006.

"We need Treasury Board President Tony Clement to keep faith with correctional officers and give his negotiators the mandate to conclude a fair and honourable collective agreement with the people who risk their lives every day on behalf of Canadians," said UCCO-SACC-CSN National President Kevin Grabowsky.

WHO: Members of the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO-SACC-CSN)

WHAT: Morning information pickets at 52 federal penitentiaries operated by Correctional Service Canada.

WHEN: Beginning at 7 am in each time zone, May 31, 2013.

SOURCE: UNION OF CANADIAN CORRECTIONAL OFFICERS (UCCO-SACC-CSN)

Lyle Stewart, CSN communications service, 514 796-2066.