EDMONTON – The Alberta Union of Provincial Employees (AUPE) says an agreement has been reached between the union and the Alberta government to end the wildcat strikes that began at the new Edmonton Remand Centre Friday afternoon.
“It’s been a busy, emotional, exciting five days since the wildcat strike started,” said AUPE President Guy Smith Tuesday night.
“To resolve the strike, we entered into lengthy and challenging discussions with the government of Alberta. As a result of those discussions, an agreement to end the strike was reached late this evening.”
According to the AUPE, striking workers will return to their job sites at 7 a.m. Wednesday.
“Over the last five days, Albertans and Canadians have been made explicitly aware of the health and safety concerns of front-line correctional peace officers. These officers do a demanding job, in a challenging environment and do so proudly.”
“These officers need to know when they are on duty that their health and safety is protected and that the concerns they raise will be addressed seriously,” said Smith.
“Because of the strength shown by members at all correctional facilities province-wide, and by the sheriffs, court clerks, probation officers, social workers and others who joined them in solidarity, worksites like the new Edmonton Remand Centre will be safer,” he added.
In a statement released late Tuesday night, Premier Alison Redford said she is pleased AUPE has chosen to end the strike and return to work.
“The Government of Alberta has been clear before and during the strike that we take the health and safety of workers seriously and that has not changed. As we have stated repeatedly, we will investigate all new and specific occupational health and safety concerns raised by government employees at the Edmonton Remand Centre.”
“The Government will do everything within our means to ensure taxpayers are not on the hook for the millions of dollars this illegal job action cost.”
“I also want to thank all of the Albertans – including RCMP, the Calgary and Edmonton Police Services, and management – who sacrificed their time and put in so much effort to keep Alberta’s communities, courts and correctional facilities safe.”
The Communications Director for the Office of the Premier says Premier Alison Redford and Justice Minister Jonathan Denis will be commenting on the end of the strike at 10:30 a.m. Wednesday in Calgary.
Smith admitted coming to an agreement with the government wasn’t easy.
“It has been frustrating, absolutely, to try and get the government to actually sit down and talk seriously about these issues. But I think at the end of the day they had to in order to resolve this.”
“It probably came as a bit of a surprise that we got a deal, but that’s how these things go, that you drag on you drag on and then all of a sudden things fall into place, and we have to move fairly quickly now to ensure that our members know as much as possible that they need to report to work tomorrow morning.”
Union officials say the deal includes an occupational health and safety review to investigate concerns that have been raised about the remand centre.
It says the deal also means there will be no retribution for individual workers who have been involved with the strike.
A Court of Queen’s Bench justice fined the union $100,000 Monday night for the illegal strike, and that penalty increased to $350,000 when the guards didn’t return to work by noon Tuesday.
Smith says the $350,000 in fines was worth the result.
“Absolutely it was. I think the attention drawn to the issues of health and safety for correctional peace officers especially at the new facility was so important.”
Global News has obtained a letter from Public Service Commissioner Dwight Dibben to Guy Smith.
The letter addresses issues Smith raised with Deputy Premier Thomas Lukaszuk, including a request for a new Occupational Health and Safety review of the Edmonton Remand Centre, the future of the two correctional officers who were previously suspended, and a request for amnesty for striking workers.
“It is not our intention to seek retribution and following a return to work we will consider all circumstances on a case by case basis and act thoughtfully and in a measured and appropriate fashion,” writes Dibben.
He adds, “to be clear, we will seek any and all remedies from AUPE to address the losses suffered as a result of this illegal job action. A timely return to work will be taken into consideration as we proceed.”
Read the full letter below.
Letter to Guy Smith from the Public Service Commissioner
With files from The Canadian Press
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