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‘It feels like we’ve been singled out in the dark’: union questions public health order, calls for hike in pay
A nearly month long health order that has kept staff at Saskatchewan Penitentiary away from their families and critical supports, came to an end at midnight, but in the meantime the union representing correctional officers has questions about why the isolation order was in place for so long, and why members are not being fairly compensated.
Ryan DeBack, regional vice-president for the Union of Canadian Correctional Officers (UCCO), said the health order which required staff to self-isolate when at home, during Christmas and New Year’s, failed to take into account the actual reality members are currently living with.
“One of the things we use to help balance ourselves and to help come down from what’s going on inside he institution is our community and that’s our friends and family,” he said.
As per a provincial health order, all people are required to self-isolate if they have had close contact with a positive case and given the outbreak declared at Sask. Pen, all staff were therefore deemed to be at risk. While the province’s medical health officer provided advice for how the facility could run, it was ultimately still up to Corrections Canada to run their operations.