Re: Hours of Work Decision for Surrey Pretrial

As you may be aware, in January, the Employer changed the hours for Correctional Officers at the Surrey Pretrial Services Centre. The Employer implemented a schedule that changed what had been working well and been in place for over 15 years.

The Union challenged this change through an Hours of Work Umpire pursuant to Article 14.2.

Today we received the decision from the Hours of Work Umpire. The decision upholds the schedule the ER unilaterally rolled out. 

We are very disappointed by the decision and believe is it the wrong one. We contend it is likely to lead to an increase in STIIP issues and exacerbate the challenges that already exist in recruitment and retention.

The Employer's decision to even proceed to a hearing on this matter demonstrates a disregard for the employees' work/life balance and well being. Leading up to the hearing, we conducted an extensive survey of the membership on the worksite and the results were overwhelming. The members do not want the Employer's implemented schedule and believe it will cost the Employer more and damage morale further. The Employer decided to ignore those comments and wishes of its employees and proceeded anyway.

Regardless of the decision, we are asking the Employer to reconsider this schedule and revert back to the previous schedule.

In the meantime, the Union is considering all its options to challenge this decision, including the appeal provisions in Clause 14.2(h).

In solidarity, 

Dean Purdy, Component 1 Vice President
Ira Kibbe, Local 104 Chairperson 
Oliver Demuth, Staff Representative 

UWU/MoveUP