RVP Annie Blanchette and Local President Marie-Pier Spellman welcomed National President David Neufeld, and USJE Labour Relations Officer Sharon Aspirot to the Maisonneuve Parole Office in Montréal, Québec, for a site visit.
President Neufeld had last toured a Montréal CSC Community site in January 2023 when he met with members at the Sherbrooke CCC.
During this visit, Local President Spellman provided a tour of the facilities that allowed President Neufeld to meet with USJE members working in all sections of the office. This included Correctional Program Officers, Case Management Assistants, Parole Officer Supervisors and Community Parole Officers.
When speaking with the members, it was evident that keeping the community safe through their work for CSC is a source of great personal pride. The Maisonneuve Parole Office is a multifaceted institution and one interesting fact that emerged from this visit is that the Maisonneuve Parole Officers provides supervision and services to Inuit offenders who come to Montreal to serve their conditional release, with the help of a newly hired Indigenous Parole officer.
When talking to members, President Neufeld was able to share information about USJE’s Presumptive Injury Campaign and why this is a top priority for our union. Many members expressed their appreciation for this campaign and acknowledged that their work and workload can have a very negative impact on their mental health. Members were open about the difficulty of their work and the importance of reducing the size of their caseload. These members also identified the importance of having access to Workers’ Compensation when experiencing an operational stress injury.
President Neufeld was advised of the challenges in the office and the struggle to keep a full complement of Community Parole Officers. There were also discussions about how to improve the workplace and the need to have greater flexibility when it comes to the local telework practice. Members agreed that having access to more flexible work arrangements would allow for a better work/life balance, particularly when commuting times can be lengthy and traveling around the city to perform supervision duties can take a lot of time.
President Neufeld would like to thank the members of Local 10088 for welcoming him to the site and for their high level of engagement. He would also like to thank the Area Director, Isabelle Lemaire, for meeting with the USJE representatives and for her support of the visit.