Thunder Bay·Audio

Head of Ontario Union to tour Thunder Bay jail

The head of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union is in Thunder Bay on Monday to tour the district jail and hear the concerns of correctional officers.

Visit comes a week after incident that saw correctional officer taken hostage

Warren "Smokey" Thomas, president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union represents 6 thousand correctional officers in the province, including at the Thunder Bay District Jail. (Canadian Press file photo)
The head of Ontario's Public Service Employees Union is in Thunder Bay this morning to tour the local jail and talk with correctional workers. We hear his concerns in light of last week's hostage taking at the jail.

The president of the Ontario Public Service Employees Union is in Thunder Bay on Monday to tour the district jail and meet with correctional workers.

Warren "Smokey" Thomas represents some 6 thousand correctional officers across the province.

The visit comes one week after an incident at the Thunder Bay District Jail that saw an officer taken hostage and extensive damage done to the facility.

Steven Small, the assistant deputy minister with the Ministry of Community Safety and Correctional Services, will also be taken on a tour of the jail.

Ontario correctional officers have rejected a tentative three year deal with the province.The rejection came a week after Ontario announced it hired 91 new officers.