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The latest trouble with staffing at the jail comes only four days after correctional officers overwhelmingly rejected a tentative contract offer between the province and their union. Correctional officers in Ottawa voted 93 per cent against the offer, and then picketed outside the jail on Thursday morning.

The correctional officers are expected to be in a position to strike by January. If correctional officers walk out, that would leave managers in charge of running the institution.

The situation Sunday does not bode well for a potential strike, said Gareth Jones, OPSEU regional vice-president and a correctional officer.

“If they had to staff the entire place, this should be a wake up call to them to say, ‘Hey, we’re in trouble’,” said Jones.

“I’m hoping for everyone’s sake that it is a quiet day inside,” said Jones. “I would say they are sending a message to some degree.”

Jones said he was concerned that deputy superintendents who might be running the jail when there are no managers might not have all their training up to date, particularly in the use of pepper spray and handcuffs. There is also a question of how much operational experience they possess.

Jones said bargaining on a new contract for correctional officers is expected to resume Friday, when OPSEU will meet with a conciliator and the provincial government. Saturday has also been set aside in case the two sides are able to make progress on a new deal.

Jail managers had been trying to unionize in 2013, according to the Public Service Alliance of Canada’s Ontario vice-president’s report. According to that February 2015 report, attempts to organize the ministry’s 600 operational managers were ongoing. A vote had been held in April 2013, but the ballots were segregated and a count put on hold due to an employer challenge to the managerial exception, according to the report. Hearings were continuing on the matter in 2015.

PSAC was not immediately available on Sunday to provide an update on the status of those attempts to unionize.

One employee at the jail, who asked to remain anonymous, said the actions of the managers were a protest against not being able to unionize.

Both Collin and Jones said they did not know why the managers didn’t report to work.

aseymour@ottawacitizen.com

Twitter.com/andrew_seymour