Workers searching to sign first contract after joining USW
Security guards at an Ontario government school for deaf children have been locked out of their jobs, according to the union.
Security guards at Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf in Belleville, Ont., — owned and operated by the Ontario government — were locked out Feb. 8
"This case is particularly objectionable because the Ontario government is complicit in the shoddy treatment of these workers," said Marty Warren, Ontario director of the United Steelworkers (USW), which represents the security guards.
The guards have been asked to work up to 60 hours a week without overtime pay, said the union.
The Ontario government awarded a private contract to a U.S.-based corporation, CBRE Group, to manage the Sir James Whitney School for the Deaf property. CBRE, in turn, contracted out security services at the school to another private company, the Canadian Corps of Commissionaires.
The seven security guards at the school have been trying to negotiate their first collective agreement after joining the USW in late 2015. They have met with considerable resistance in their attempt to secure a fair union contract with improvements in wages, benefits and working conditions, said the union.
The security guards earn less than $13 an hour and are required to pay up to $1,300 a year for basic benefits. They requested at the bargaining table to join a union-sponsored benefit plan that would save money for the employer and employees' alike, but the proposal was rejected by the Commissionaires, according to the union.
The union has filed an application for first contract arbitration at the Ontario Labour Relations Board, seeking the OLRB's assistance with achieving a fair agreement.
