The Canadian Prisoners’ Labour ConFederation (“CPLC” or “ConFed”) is the result of much concern regarding the conditions of employment for Canada’s growing prisoner population, the lack of opportunities available for prisoners to prepare themselves for release and the resultant, unacceptably high recidivism rate. Our initiatives are designed to offset the release to society of uneducated, untrained and vocationally unskilled prisoners.
Education and vocational training of prisoners during incarceration is known to reduce recidivism. Reduced recidivism means fewer new victims of released offenders. Prisoners historically have had little say over the conditions of their employment and virtually no independent resolution for their work-related grievances. Such a power differential between employer and employee does not make for a healthy work ethic. Where the employee is a prisoner, the employer the Treasury Board (Correctional Service of Canada), and the CSC’s aim is to protect society through the safe, secure and humane control of prisoners while preparing them for their eventual release back into society as law-abiding citizens, it is counter-productive, to that end, to subject prisoners to years of conditions which teach them that it is okay to take advantage of someone when they have less power than you do.
One cannot instill, in another, deference for the Rule of Law and respect for the rights of others by first stripping the Rule of Law and all rights from others. The more a person sees that legal avenues of redress are accessible and efficient, the less likely he or she is to turn to illegal avenues of redress. One will not abide by what one does not respect, and one will not respect that which does not work for him/her. It is in the interests of public safety that prisoners are taught viable work skills and the importance of the Rule of Law and dignity and respect for all. Prisoners also need to be provided opportunities to make voluntary reparation with those they have harmed, where possible.
In addition, many prisoners have a desire to make positive contributions to victims of crime, the less fortunate and to society generally. Historically prisoners have found meaningful ways to give back to society through organizing fundraisers for recognized charities such as the Canadian Cancer Society, Children’s Hospitals, food banks etcetera. But many prisoners would also like to give directly to specific victims of crime through an intermediary source in a way that preserves the dignity and comfort of those concerned.
Members will contribute payments to the Registered Retirement Savings Plan, Workman’s Compensation, Health Insurance, and applicable employment taxes as well as room and board payments. This will instill in our members the sense of responsibility that is presently lacking when there are no opportunities to contribute to society. Our initiatives will reduce the burden on taxpayers which today is in the billions annually with no correctionally sound results.
It is our Mission, as a public service, to become a self-sufficient organization able to provide assistance to our members upon release to the community in a variety of ways to facilitate smooth reintegration into society as a whole, and the workplace specifically, in the interest of public safety and increasing the success rate against recidivism. As well, we will endeavor to increase transparency, educate the public and create dialogue on the state of corrections in Canada, in public service to all Canadians.
The Canadian Prisoners’ Labour ConFederation is a democratic union in which the members make the decisions and set the policies. The local Constitution and Bylaws for what was to be Local #001 were written at Kent Institution in 2010 in consultation between Union co-founders at Kent and Mountain Institutions, and came to fruition in September of 2011. This Constitution was amended by the remaining original founder in May of 2023 at the Federal Training Centre – 6099. Additional locals are to be comprised of Canada’s approximate 47 federal institutions which, at the time of this writing, will be collectively responsible for more than 14,000 in-custody prisoners and many thousand more serving sentence in the community at any given time. In future it is possible that provincial prisons will become member locals.
The Canadian Prisoners’ Labour ConFederation National Constitution, dated September 12th, 2011 and amended May 24th – August 24th, 2023, accordingly belongs to the members of the Canadian Prisoners’ Labour ConFederation. It determines the Union’s objectives and how the Union operates at the national level. The National Executive Office and the National Board of Directors have an over-arching mandate to oversee all Canadian Prisoners’ Labour ConFederation initiatives, and the National Constitution forms the basis for the functioning of the National Executive Office, and all the Canadian Prisoners’ Labour ConFederation regional and local offices across Canada.