Chaos in the justice system

It seems almost faint-hearted to call for cooler heads and the public interest to prevail in the powder-keg dispute that has erupted between Alberta’s correctional guards and the provincial government. But amid the confusing flurry of contradictory claims concerning worker safety in Alberta jails, an enclosed world most of us would rather keep out of mind, let’s begin there.

Both sides should ratchet back the war of words. It doesn’t help that Guy Smith, president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which represents the guards staging this wildcat strike, has called deputy premier Thomas Lukaszuk a liar. Nor is it wise for Lukaszuk to accuse union leaders of intimidating their membership. The security of the worker has to be the top concern here: how will pitting one group of guards against another contribute to that in the long term?

It is also imperative that the guards be clearer about the specific issues that have brought us to this dangerous stalemate. Union leaders have been so close-lipped about alleged safety concerns that it is difficult to assess their validity. Correctional officers have been without a contract since the end of March, so it’s possible this walkout could turn more on staffing levels than worker health and safety. On the other hand, nearly a quarter century has passed since Alberta prison guards last walked off the job. Exactly what is it that has so frustrated this vital workforce that they felt their only recourse was to stage an illegal strike?

It is startling how suddenly the province’s justice system has tumbled into crisis.

The strike began Friday afternoon when guards from Edmonton’s new $580-million remand centre refused to report for duty, citing concerns for personal safety. Workers at Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre followed suit, and the walkouts soon spread to correctional facilities across the province.

The Alberta Labour Relations Board has ruled the strike illegal and ordered the employees back to work. Lukaszuk has made it clear his government won’t negotiate while the guards are illegally off the job. But the disruptions have only spread further. On Monday, courtroom sheriffs, court clerks and reporters, probation officers and social workers started joining the picket lines.

In response, the government filed a cease-and-desist order with the labour relations board to apply to all striking union members, as well as a contempt of court application against those guards who defied the back-to-work orders issued Saturday.

Meanwhile, skeleton staffs of RCMP officers and managers have replaced the guards at eight correctional facilities across Alberta, amid reports of damage and inmate unrest.

So far in all of this, that inmate population might as well be mute. Just how secure is the safety of the people Alberta has locked behind bars today?

Prisons have always been dangerous, unpredictable places. There is an increased risk associated with working there, and possibly a proportionately greater risk working in the kind of “open concept” setting at the new Edmonton Remand Centre, the largest jail in Canada, where all this trouble started. There’s been some suggestion that inadequate training for that new approach may be a paramount issue with the guards. But other places in the world successfully employ an open system — why would it not work here? Once again, why won’t AUPE specify the exact concerns?

If acceptable risk has actually tipped over to safety hazard in that sprawling facility, it’s incumbent on Lukaszuk and his government to get to the bottom of the problem fast so Albertans can avoid the potential for violence — and the bill for prison repairs — that could result.

But there are legitimate reasons for this government to stick to the hard legal line on this work stoppage, and not just so as to avoid the appearance of weakness in the next round of public-sector bargaining. We live under the rule of law, after all — something prison guards, of all people, should understand.

No one can dispute that every worker in Canada is entitled to a safe work environment. The guards have made that point. They should return to work, bring our prisons back out of chaos, and await the speedy and fair airing of their grievances that they deserve.