Fort Saskatchewan, AB—
Staff at Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre are overwhelmingly displeased with their working environment, according to the results of new survey.
The survey, which the vast majority of the staff at FSCC completed, shows that workers are subject to regular management bullying—bullying which has seriously damaged their mental and physical health.
“The fact is that no worker should be subject to bullying on the job,” says Susan Slade, vice-president of the Alberta Union of Provincial Employees, which represents workers at FSCC. “Staff at FSCC have a right to a workplace without bullying and harassment.”
According to the survey results, over 70 per cent of staff have suffered from bullying over the past five years. Within that number, over 90 per cent say that management’s handling of complaints was not satisfactory. In total, 85 per cent of staff say that their mental health has been harmed by their working conditions, and over 75 per cent report damage to their physical health.
Nearly 80 per cent say they aren’t comfortable speaking to management about working conditions. Over half say they would expect management to retaliate against them for raising concerns.
“How are workers at FSCC supposed to fix their workplace if they’re afraid to even raise concerns,” Slade asks. “These workers actually wrote to their managers with a list of concerns back in October, and the administration has done nothing to address workers’ concerns in the months since.”
Around 95 per cent of FSCC staff support an independent, third-party review of the worksite.
“The reason that staff are so united in calling for an independent review is that the internal process clearly doesn’t work,” Slade says. “That’s why they’re calling for a third-party to step in. Management’s actions have broken down trust.”
“Fort Saskatchewan Correctional Centre needs a cleanup,” Slade says. “Staff members are speaking out against their working conditions, and it’s time for management to start paying attention.”
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Susan Slade is available for comment. Please contact Jon Milton, communications officer, at j.milton@aupe.org