Nearly 50 correctional officers rallied in downtown Halifax on Thursday to call for better wages, which they hope will help retain workers.
More people are being recruited since their last rally in March, but they can’t keep them in the field, according to members of the Nova Scotia Government Employees Union (NSGEU).
Andrea Hancock has been a correctional officer for 16 years. She said a lack of staff impacts how much they can help rehabilitate the inmates so they can reintegrate into society when they’re out, she said.
“They came into custody for a reason. Part of our job is to make sure we’re letting them out of custody in a position so they don’t come back in. If all we can do is meals, meds, and rounds, we’re not meeting that need.”
Officers also deal with violence from the inmates and mental health crises on a regular basis, she said. Staff shortages in the health care system are trickling down to the correctional system, and she said it’s even harder to deal with that when they have less workers than they need.
She said people used to choose that job as a career, but now wages are too low, and people are using it as a steppingstone to go elsewhere.
“People come in to go to other jobs,” said Hancock. “We want people to come in, get to know the job, get to know the people that we work with, and stay with us.”
The NSGEU says the province frequently hires more workers, but they’re leaving too fast for jobs with better pay. (Jacob Moore/Acadia Broadcasting)
In January, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court found that staff shortages were causing lockdowns that violated the Charter of Rights and Freedoms by leaving some inmates in their cells for up to 23 hours a day. Then in March, the NSGEU rallied outside the legislature, calling for more staff to solve those issues.
Since then, they’re hiring people at a faster rate, but people are almost leaving at the same pace, according to Hugh Gillis, the first vice-president of the NSGEU.
“As soon as they’re recruited in, they’re going for better jobs, the first opportunity that they can take,” he said.
He said some sheriffs in the province are making $4 more per hour than those working in correctional facilities. However, correctional officers typically make more in the low, median, and high ranges, according to the federal job bank website.
But they’re also leaving for the RCMP and other police agencies, where they would make more.
In Halifax, for example, an officer starts out at $67,133.28 a year, whereas Gillis said the corrections officers top out at $69,000 a year.
Gillis said they need to retain more employees because they need the senior officers to train the new ones.
He said the union hopes the premier will appoint a justice minister who will work them to “get to the root of the retention problems.” Minister Barbara Adams took over the Justice Department portfolio after Brad Johns stepped down from the position in April.
“Corrections has not been a priority, and we need to make it more of a priority,” said Gillis.
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