The BCGEU was advised last week that a number of high security trials are anticipated in the coming months which will increase the demand for court security beyond the capacity of the current numbers of Deputy Sheriffs.

The union has advised the employer in the strongest way that the way to address a shortage of staff is to hire more employees. Staffing shortages in Sheriff Services has been ongoing and the employer should have managed their requirements in anticipation of the current staff shortage crisis.

The union also advised the employer we were not interested in negotiating a memorandum that would simply "bail them out" for their mismanagement of staffing shortfalls in Sheriff Services.

On January 15 we were advised that the employer would implement the following procedure to respond to the increased demand for court security:

(a) Offer overtime to Deputy Sheriffs working in the same geographical location as the courthouse in which the trial is taking place.
(b) If a need for additional staffing remains, overtime will be offered to those deputy sheriffs working outside the geographic location but who are close enough to return home at night.
(c) If further staff are required, offers of shifts/overtime will be offered to an identified set of correctional officers (respondents to an EOI) working in the same geographic location as the relevant courthouse.
(d) If even further staff are required, offers of shifts/overtime will be extended to other Correctional Officers (again part of the subset identified through the EOI) working outside the geographical location, but are close enough to return home at night.
(e) Correctional Officers will only be assigned work for which they are qualified. They will not, for example, be assigned work which requires them to be armed (i.e. escorts). These Correctional Officers will undergo an orientation to Deputy Sheriff duties and will be appointed as Deputy Sheriffs for the purpose of this assignment.
(f) Correctional Officers will be compensated at their substantive rate of pay. Overtime would be calculated as per the Master and Component agreements.

The union is not happy with the use of Correctional Officers to solve the staffing shortfall crisis in Sheriff Services.

The Court Services Branch (CSB) has known about the impending staffing crunch for the last two years but did nothing. We have continuously advised the employer that they have a recruitment and retention and morale problem within Sheriff Services and these types of situations only exacerbates the situation and does not solve the fundamental problem of short staffing.

The union has been advised by the employer that this is an unusual situation and as such should be considered an anomaly and that they will do everything possible to minimize the utilization of these alternatives.

The union will carefully monitor this issue to ensure full compliance with the Master and Component Agreements and continue to meet with the ministry about the critical staffing shortage in sheriff services.