Date: March 25, 2008

To: All Senior Correctional Officers,
Component 1

B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU) president George Heyman says the fight will continue to resolve chronic understaffing problems facing Corrections Officers and Deputy Sheriffs after the union's efforts to win a recruitment and retention-based pay adjustment for them were again rebuffed by senior employer representatives at a meeting Feb. 18 in Victoria.

Legal protest rallies last week outside correctional centres and courthouses once again drew public, government and media attention to the recruitment and retention crisis in our component.

On Friday government informed us they will not be implementing a wage increase to address chronic staffing problems in Corrections and Sheriff Services.

The Union had a conference call with several of the Sheriff Supervisors in the summer of 2007. It was decided at this time that the Sheriff Supervisors wanted to file an appeal to a higher grid level. You asked for the Union's assistance in this process. The Union agreed to assist, and requested at that time that each and every member wishing to appeal must individually fill out the Classification Appeal form for the Public Service Agency. The instructions are very clear in the 14th Master Agreement Art: 28.3 on how to follow this process. Several times since that conference call the Union has asked the membership to comply. To this date only 13 members have done so. The Public Service Agency has requested the Union on several occasions to send them a list of those members that have appealed; the Union has been reluctant to do so, simply because the numbers are not very compelling.