CCPOAIronwood.com - Internet Bulletin Board for Members of ISP Chapter CCPOA

On June 13th, an arbitrator ruled that the State of California is unable to limit time that the CCPOA can devote to union activities. DPA Officials attempted to block use of “release time,” which is donated by union members from vacation and holiday time banks for union activities.

The DPA based its claim on the belief that the current contract limited release time to 10,000 hours over 5-years and that such time had been exceeded by more than 100,000 hours to date. However, it was proven that there was a mutual agreement made just two months after the contract went into effect by the State and the CCPOA in 2001 to get rid of the cap all together.

CCPOA VP Lance Corcoran told the press that this decision means that the union can continue to conduct “business as usual.” He told reporters: “We’re going to continue to be a vocal critic of both the Department of Corrections and the California Youth Authority and try to expose areas in which they are failing to maintain public safety.”

The Youth and Adult Correctional Agency officials had not yet made a decision at press time whether or not to appeal the arbitrator’s decision.

State officials have charged that union officials have spent tens of thousands of hours on union business activity, beyond what has been allowed under the union contract. Because of this charge the DPA as well as the Youth and Adult Correctional Agency has denied any further “release time” and that the CCPOA President and other staff officers must return to line prison work next week.

CCPOA, however, says that the state is wrong on the number of hours that are set aside per the contract for its members to spend on union activity. Some believe that this most recent move by the state was in an effort to counter attacks made by the union against the Schwarzenegger administration in recent months.

A binding arbitration hearing has been agreed upon by both parties in order to resolve the dispute, which began on May 31st. A ruling is expected from the arbitrator by Friday.

The DPA’s Chief of Labor Relations, David A. Gilb, sent a letter to the CCPOA on May 20th saying that in a state review of the union’s release time bank, it had been discovered that the organization had used over 122k hours in its current contract for union activity. According to Gilb, the state believes that the current 5-year contract between CCPOA and the state sets aside only 10k union hours. The letter demanded that CCPOA representatives such as Mike Jiminez and Lance Corcoran must return to regular state employment no later than June 6, 2005.

Corcoran told the press that there is virtually no chance of Jiminez returning to line prison work anytime soon. “It’s not going to happen. Even if we have to absorb his entire salary, it’s not going to happen.” He did state, however, that the decision would not affect CCPOA Vice Presidents, including himself, as those salaries were negotiated with the state in the current contract that doesn’t expire until July 2006. In addition, Corcoran stated that the union hour limitation that used to be a part of the labor agreements was removed in side letters to the past two contracts, including the current one.

Some feel that it is the CCPOA’s harsh public criticism of the Schwarzenegger administration and its participation in the public employee union alliance that opposes the Governor’s call for a special election regarding state spending, redistricting and teacher tenure. The Union’s current membership vote on a special $33/month assessment charged to its 31,000 members between now and the November 2006 election would raise $18.4 million dollars to support the union’s efforts.

Corcoran told the press: “Obviously we’re having some impact. They must not like what’s going on and they want to silence the voices that are critical of their operation.”

Today the asinine managers took it into their own hands, to ask officer’s to go into the restroom and remove their vest and to show that they were wearing it. Apparently the C-Yard Lieutenant and the C-Yard Captain decided this was the way they would check to see if officers were wearing their vest. Later in the day a rumor started to fly around the institution that this new way of checking to see if an officer was wearing their vest was appoved by the local CCPOA Chapter President. No I did not nor will I ever approve of this type of method of vest checking.

What ever happened to just asking officers if they are wearing there vest. Honesty goes a long way, something managers know nothing about. So if a supervisor asks you if you are wearing your vest, you should tap on it and say yes.

The Department of Defense announced the death of First Sergeant Michael Barnhill, an American soldier serving in Iraq for the Marine Reserves, this week. Not only was the First Sergeant a soldier, fighting for his country, but he was also a California Correctional Peace Officer who had worked for more than 15 years at Mule Creek State Prison.

Barnhill’s tour of duty began back in January, and he was due to return this coming September. He leaves behind a wife and three children. Barnhill is the second California Corrections Officer to die in the war in Iraq.

Flags at the State Capitol will be flown at half-staff in his honor.