Alberta Minister of Justice Jonathan Denis on Friday said the province would be filing an injunction to get the guards back to work. (Gary Moore/CBC) Alberta's justice minister says remand centre workers who have walked off the job in Alberta are engaging in an illegal job action.
Jonathan Denis was responding early Saturday morning to a strike that began at the Edmonton Remand Centre after a correctional worker was suspended for complaining about safety issues.
Seventy workers who arrived for the Friday afternoon shift refused to go inside, prompting officials to put the facility into lockdown and restrict prisoners to their cells.
By Saturday morning, the labour unrest had spread to six other jails, in Fort Saskatchewan, Peace River, Calgary (both the remand centre and correctional facility) and Lethbridge, as well as the Young Offenders Centre in Edmonton.
Josh Stewart says all those facilities are in "normal nighttime lockdown" and that striking staff have been replaced by police and RCMP officers along with correctional supervisors.
Guy Smith, president of the Alberta Union of Public Employees, says the suspension of a union member on Friday was the last straw for correctional officers who have complained about the design of the new Edmonton Remand Centre.
The new centre is the size of 10 CFL football fields and rests on a site the size of 27 football fields.
Concerns over open-concept design
With the overhaul, a network of hallways leads to different self-contained pods, where prisoners will be held. In most cases, the pods are all open.
Newer correctional centres in Canada use this design, called direct supervision. There are no barriers separating the guards from the prisoners in the designated pods. The hope is the layout will help guards keep a closer eye on inmates and improve how the two sides relate to each other.
Jeremy Veenstraw of Alberta Correctional Services recently told CBC News it will take some time for staff to adapt to the new design in the massive remand centre.
"It's a lot more open. It's a lot less restricting. It puts officers face to face with inmates," he said.
Smith says the striking workers will stay off the job as long as it takes to get action to reverse the suspension.
Just days before the jail opened, the AUPE said it found five pages of design flaws after touring the $580-million facility.
At that time Smith asked the provincial government to delay the transfer of prisoners from the old remand centre until the changes were made.
Denis said the province was seeking a court injunction to force the workers back.
"Our first priority is ensuring public safety and security," the minister said.
"Although provincial correctional centres across Alberta are affected, the facilities continue to be securely operated through the assistance of police and management. Contingency plans are in place and being implemented as needed."
He said there would be an investigation of the walkout.
"Any threats to public safety are dealt with swiftly and seriously by this government," he said.
With files from CBC NewsAnda sedang membaca artikel tentang
7 Alberta jails locked down after walkout
Dengan url
http://topstorinfo.blogspot.com/2013/04/7-alberta-jails-locked-down-after.html
Anda boleh menyebar luaskannya atau mengcopy paste-nya
7 Alberta jails locked down after walkout
namun jangan lupa untuk meletakkan link
7 Alberta jails locked down after walkout
sebagai sumbernya
0 komentar:
Posting Komentar