Nova Scotia jail guards want higher pay to deal with staff retention issues

HALIFAX — A group of unionized Nova Scotia jail guards marched in driving rain Thursday to draw attention to what they say are “crisis” working conditions.

About 40 members of the Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union waved placards as a four-piece Dixieland band played outside a provincial government office building in downtown Halifax.

About 400 correctional officers across the province are represented by the province’s largest union, which has been in contract talks with the provincial government since September.

Hugh Gillis, a jail guard and first vice-president with the union, said the guards need more help from the Justice Department in dealing with issues such as staff retention and better pay.

“We are looking for Premier Tim Houston to appoint a justice minister who will work with us to get to the root of some of the retention problems here in the province of Nova Scotia,“ said Gillis. “We can’t retain our correctional officers at our facilities, and it’s taking a big toll on our staff.”

Many correctional officers are leaving to work in other parts of the justice system where salaries are higher, he said, creating stress and safety issues for overworked guards and for prisoners inside the province’s jails. Gillis said that while the government has been recruiting new officers, lower pay means many quickly move on, leaving ongoing staff shortages.

“As soon as they (guards) are recruited in, they are going for better jobs at the first opportunity that they can take,” he said, adding that salaries for Nova Scotia jail guards top out at about $69,000 a year, which makes them among the lowest paid in the country.

Thursday’s rally was the second in nine months for the union, which brought its concerns to the provincial legislature in March. That protest followed a pair of Nova Scotia Supreme Court rulings in January, which said it was a violation of Charter rights to lock down inmates in provincial jails because of staffing shortages.

The rulings stated that under full staffing, inmates should be safely out of their cells for up to 12 hours a day. It said that at a minimum, 19 correctional officers are required to safely let inmates out of their cells for nine hours or more a day.

“We do have lockdowns, there is no question about that, but again we need to have more staff working at the facilities to give our correctional officers a break,” Gillis said.

Andrea Hancock, a 16-year veteran guard who works at the Central Nova Scotia Correctional Facility in Halifax, said the lockdown issue at her facility is currently “not as big as it was.”

“But it’s not just a matter of getting people out of their cells,” said Hancock, who added that rehabilitation work also has to be done to ensure inmates don’t end up back to jail. “If all we (guards) can do is meals, bed (checks) and rounds, then we are not meeting that need,” she said.

In March, then Justice minister Brad Johns said his department had hired 33 new guards, while another 45 students were being trained as part of ongoing recruiting efforts. The Justice Department wouldn’t comment Thursday on salaries paid to guards because of the contract negotiations, but it said in an emailed statement that it is committed to providing a “safe, healthy workplace.”

“We recently expanded our occupational health and safety and peer support programs and added new resources to our staff wellness and clinical services team. Our ongoing recruitment efforts have been successful and are helping to ensure our facilities are properly staffed.”

The union said contract talks that were paused during the recent provincial election, would likely continue into the spring.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Dec. 5, 2024.

Keith Doucette, The Canadian Press