The local Ontario Public Service Employees Union is expressing "grave" safety concerns for jail nurses, cooks and secretaries who will be inside working if jail guards go on strike later this month.
Windsor correctional workers voted 95% against a tentative deal. Those results were released early Thursday morning.
President of OPSEU Local 135 Randy Simpraga says if a strike takes place, management will attempt to take over for the guards.
"I have grave concerns for their safety. I will be doing what I can under the Occupational Health and Safety Act for them," he says. "I will be inside overseeing how they're working. But it's just not right that half of our workforce will be on the picket line while half will be on the inside."
Simpraga says his members are tired of the government's tactics and aren't going to "wait until next time" for a better deal.
"This government is rife with scandal (and) misspending, yet they're going to take it off the back of our men and women. Enough is enough," he says. "Let's do this. If you want us on strike Ms. Wynne, we'll go on strike."
Unions across the province voted 67% overall against the contract. One of the issues, Simpraga says, is the government has been "slowly eroding our compensation package." Earlier this week the union urged its members to turn down the deal.
This round of bargaining represents OPSEU Local 135, which includes most employees at the South West Detention Centre, youth centres, probation and parole offices. It also involves a total of 5,500 workers across Ontario.
No future bargaining dates have been scheduled and details of the agreement aren't being released.
