USW members who provide chaplaincy services and spiritual care to inmates in federal prisons across Canada have ratified their second collective agreement.
The prison chaplains, from various faiths and spiritual practices, voted in late May to ratify a new contract that will be in effect until March 31, 2026. The chaplains are employed by Bridges of Canada, which has a contract with the federal government to provide chaplaincy services to inmates. The chaplains joined the USW in 2018.
The collective bargaining process for prison chaplains is unfairly constrained by the funding model created by the federal government when it decided to outsource chaplaincy services to a private provider, the committee noted. Despite this longstanding concern, the government continues to resist demands to improve the funding model.
While the bargaining process was frustrating, the committee met its goals of achieving a contract that improves compensation for all members, establishes and maintains various workplace protections, and addresses the needs of part-time and tradition-specific chaplains.
“We are proud to have made further improvements for chaplains in this round of collective bargaining, even if we could not achieve everything we wanted,” said Todd Brown, president of the chaplains’ bargaining unit.
“We are grateful to the USW for their support and we will continue to advocate for our members under this new agreement,” added Brown, a prison chaplain in the Pacific region.
The new collective agreement calls for total wage increases of 8.05% over the term, including a 3.95% increase effective April 1 of this year, as well as a $600 lump-sum payment for all members.
The contract enshrines 10 days of paid medical leave per year, which will be protected for the life of agreement, even if there is a change in government and the statutory benefit is rescinded.
Workers’ compensation coverage and legal indemnity for all employees are also now part of the collective agreement. Benefits and holiday pay provisions are improved, and hotel and meal allowances, as well as mileage rates, are increased.
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