Striking guards from BC’s largest security company may not have jobs to return to after being locked out from work last week.
Commissionaires BC locked out thirty-eight union guards after workers arrived to work in jeans instead of uniforms as part of an on-job strike action.
The guards had been contracted out to Canada Border Service Agency (CBSA) centres in Vancouver. In response to the lock out, CBSA has suspended its contract with Commissionaires for three months, and has replaced the unionized workers with staff from Genesis Security.
A Commissionaires BC spokesperson said the contract with the border service agency may not be renewed when it expires in March because of the strike action.
Rob Hellenius, president of the striking union local, said the union's strike was about workplace safety for guards, and said both the company and the border service had refused to accept responsibility for the health and safety of employees.
Union guards contracted to CBSA were responsible for transferring immigration detainees.
"25% of the detainees we dealt with would have a history of severe violence," said Hellenius. Despite the risk, Hellenius said Commissionaires is the only BC agency that does this kind of work unarmed.
"There was no equipment offered for our group," said Hellenius. "We'd operate solely with handcuffs and leg shackles. No protective vests or anything of that nature."
Company spokesperson Allen Batchelar rebuked the union's safety claims. Batchelar said CBSA does a risk assessment of each detainee, and only low-risk detainees are assigned to commissionaire guards.
"It's nothing that I wouldn't have my own son do," said Batchelar. "And my son has worked at the site."
Batchelar said he considers the union's safety issue claims "to be defamatory and not supported by fact," and said a failure to negotiate new salaries was the real source of conflict. The union had been in collective bargaining negotiations with Commissionaires until talks broke down in September.
The contract between Commissionaires BC and CBSA will expire at the end of March. Batchelar said that no new contract bid will be submitted to the border agency because of the breakdown in relations with the union.
Commissionaires BC is a non-profit private security agency, and the majority of its guards are former military and police personnel. Of the 1600 people employed by the company, only 42 are unionized.
In May of this year, the company fired 15 guards at the Williams Lake RCMP detachment after salary negotiations could not be resolved.
Calls made by The Tyee to the Canada Border Service Agency were not returned.
Sean Casey reports for The Hook.
Sux
Can't figure out this nonsense about how RCMP are treating their own former employees. Commissionaires have a long history of civilian security and links to the police and military, which is why they were hired into jails in the first place. Now the force that has lost its way sees fit to balance its budget on the lowest-paid members of its group - female clerks - and its lowest-paid contractors - contract jail security. Meanwhile, the number of high-paid high-ranking officers continuest o grow. Bev Busson couldn't make a speck of difference in her interim term, and I haven't even SEEN the new guy - whatzisname, Elliott.
That was an ugly strike in Williams Lake. Incompetent business manager for the union overmatched by an equally intransigent business manager for the force. The difference in wages was $2 an hour - $18 asked vs. $16 offered with verylmited benefits; yet the new contract signed with a private firm pays the new guards $1-3 lower than the Commissionaires were getting - for the same contract price. You know where the balance is going, eh?
I really feel for those guys who lost their jobs.
expectations
Quote:
""There was no equipment offered for our group," said Hellenius. "We'd operate solely with handcuffs and leg shackles. No protective vests or anything of that nature.""
Are not border guards, RCMP and sherrifs expected to wear protective gear when doing their dangerous jobs? Why would these people be denied similar safety gear when carrying out a similar duties?
Allen Batchelar's claim that only low risk prisoners are transported will carry weight until the first non-protected guard is shot. That life will be wasted and that guard's family will pay the price,
Commissionaries at Williams Lake
This person Batchelar needs an award for spin!
The fact is the 15 guards at Williams lake are much happier without the Corps. They now work directly for the RCMP at a considerably higher wage etc. than the Corps was paying. So they got what they wanted.
you are nuts
i am the son who has worked this contract. getting shot are you kidding! all of these peoole that the commissionaires have in detention come right off of a plane so no weapons there, or out of fraser institue a jail no weapons there. where are these detaniees getting weapons from? i worked this contract never once did i feel endangered! most of the detanees are families kids moms and dads. there are always 2 people with a dedetnee. i even did this contract when there was a high profile eco terrorist in the cells he was actually one of the nicest men to talk to. these people are in canada to prove they are good people the last thing they want to do is show they are dangerous. the real issue here is money. no one is talking about the amount of money they are asking for in a rasie. lets just say its an amount that is bigger than the highest paid ceo's get in several years combined. they are a union out to lunch. they brought this all upon tehmselves.
batchelar
Clearly you are a chip of the old block. The Sun newspaper has been covering the issue of dangerous detainees and it is obvious the Commissionaires are exposed to great dangers. One is from a lack of training and education. You seem to have suffered from that. It isn't dangerous if your aren't told. Why do you suspect Worksafe BC is now involved. Please explain why fully protected CBSA and Police transport these people then hand them over to unprotected Commissionaires to transport. The danger isn't just from the detainee, but from there colleagues on the outside who may want to help them escape.
Why are the workers refused gloves as per the Workers compensation act, as they have to search people who may have needles etc.
What about communicable diseases.
What protection did the poor Commissionaire have in the middle of the hostage taking. When the Vanocuver SWAT team was called. Oh yes he had his White shirt.
Things change the scope of work has changed the Corps have refused to do anything about it.
Deporable.
batchelar "lets just say its
batchelar
"lets just say its an amount that is bigger than the highest paid ceo's get in several years combined".
Would you seriously have us believe these people are asking for salaries of several million dollars per year? Because that's what the highest paid CEOs in this country make. I also noticed you wrote "worked" and not "work" this contract. Got a nice cushy management position now do you?
Did daddy decide the job was too dangerous for you?
The gall of those workers demanding job safety and decent wages!
Batchelar Jr.
It's my understanding that Mr. Batchelar Jr. did indeed work at the BC Holding Center Immigration. He was there for two days. Echoes of Shultz from Hogans Heroes comes to mind... I HEAR NOTHING! I SEE NOTHING! Junior, if you didn't see anything while you were at the quietest of the three CBSA sites it's because you were being sheltered by people wise enough to keep the Commandants son out of trouble. And by the way, don't feel bad, maybe your daddy didn't know he was sending you in to harms way. Commissionaire Mangagment never did know what was happening at these sites because the only management at these sites came from the CBSA and that's the way the Commissionaire Managers liked it!