(Montreal) After more than two years of negotiations, the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO-SACC-CSN) announced on Saturday that they had finally reached agreements in principle with Ottawa for the renewal of their collective agreement.
Posted at 10:56 a.m.
Updated at 2:27 p.m.
Audrey Sanikopoulos
The Canadian Press
One of the agreements was reached with the Treasury Board regarding monetary issues. Another was negotiated with Correctional Service Canada for everything relating to operational elements, such as vacations or work injury leave.
Correctional officers, who are responsible for maintaining order in prisons, should receive salary increases of 15.73% over four years, not including a bonus which represents a total increase of nearly 23%, according to the union.
The national vice-president of the union, Frédérick Lebeau, said he was “very satisfied” with these agreements for 7,500 correctional officers across the country, including just under 2,000 in Quebec.
According to him, the mobilization of hundreds of correctional officers on November 26 in Ottawa made it possible to unblock the negotiations, with each party agreeing to give up points in the final weeks.
Mr. Lebeau notably recalled that the issue of the safety of correctional officers and the violence in penitentiaries had “set the table for salary settlement”.
“We were behind our Public Security counterparts. I think the government has recognized the risks inherent in our profession. We see it with violence, drones and even smuggling. […] It required a significant salary correction,” he explained.
“This agreement in principle demonstrates that the best agreements are always reached at the negotiating table,” reacted last December 10, the former President of the Treasury Board, Anita Anand, when this part of the agreement was approved.
Correctional Service Canada had not yet responded to our request for reaction at the time of writing these lines.
Before the agreements are signed, union members must vote in a ratification vote which will take place on January 2 during a series of general assemblies.
