On Tuesday, Component 1 Vice President Dean Purdy and Component Executive members Brian Campbell and Brandon Cox met with senior Workers’ Compensation Board (WCB) officials to discuss the dramatic increase in violence inside all nine provincial jails. There was a review and discussion around the results of WCB inspections at Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre (KRCC), Vancouver Island Regional Correctional Centre (VIRCC), North Fraser Pretrail Centre (NFPC) & Surrey Pretrail Services Centre (SPSC).

After viewing a presentation from WCB, your union raised a variety of issues and concerns as well as the union’s views on what changes need to be implemented in order to protect correctional officers:

• 58 orders in 2013 and an additional 11 orders in 2016 were written by WCB, but they were fringe orders that dealt with smaller issues and not the real crux of violence in BC corrections.
• The officer-to-inmate ratio prior to 2002 was 1:20 (the original intent of the “Direct Supervision Model”). Due to increased ratios and capacity, direct supervision is no longer a safe and preferred method of housing inmates.
• Some canteen items need to be removed from the provincial canteen list so that microwaves are no longer needed in all correctional centres.
• The Corrections Branch violence statistics show that assaults on correctional officers rose by 39 per cent between 2014 & 2015, as well as an additional 22 per cent between 2015 & 2016.
• There is a need for a province-wide jail or a dedicated Special Handling Unit (SHU) to house the most dangerous and problematic inmates in the province.
• Current WCB regulations do not protect and keep correctional officers safe from workplace violence and dangerous inmates.

Purdy relayed the frustration that both the union and its members have over the increase in violence against officers. He also raised the fact that the profile and demographics of the inmates has changed in recent years. There is a growing number of inmates with mental health issues, addictions and gang affiliations. The increasing rate of violence is out of control and a significant concern for the union.

"The meeting with WCB was disappointing for us,” said Purdy. “We are greatly concerned greatly about the ongoing violence and the safety of our officers working the living units on the frontlines. WCB needs to enforce and reduce the inmate-to-officer ratios to manageable levels and increase staffing levels so that two officers are on duty in all living units at all times. The ball is in their court now. If something isn’t done, we feel it’s just a matter of time before we see a fatality of one of our officers."

Your component executive will be looking at other options to increase the pressure to the provincial government, including rallies and demonstrations.

The meeting ended abruptly with the union thanking members of WorkSafeBC for their time.