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

Schwarzenegger’s summary states that his spending plan is a proposal to “pursue authority to secure additional inmate capacity through contracts with other providers” - AKA other providers outside of state correctional officers and institutions. He is calling to double the number of private prison beds from the current 8,500 to approximately 17,000 in the next two years.

This action of working with private prisons rather than state-run institutions would allow the governor to budget for the construction of only two state institutions rather than the seven that were originally considered to be constructed over the next decade. According to the governor’s plan, the combination of the privatized prison bed increase and the movement of short-term prison violators, a projected 27,000 inmates in total, would create space for an additional 83,000 inmates.

Some media outlets, such as the Sacramento Bee, have written that the CCPOA is concerned about the proposals because they would “lose out on thousands of additional dues-paying members,” but as usual they are missing the big picture. Mike Jimenez, President of the CCPOA told the press that he felt it was a “pipe dream” that the state could think that with growing prison populations and already under-staffed facilities that it could get away with only constructing two new institutions over the next ten years. Jimenez also said that he felt that Schwarzenegger’s proposals were also a “payback to us” for the campaign waged by CCPOA and other employee unions against him during the special election back in November. “Clearly this is a shot back at us for opposing him as well as his reforms that never materialized,” he said.

The proposed $8.1 billion budget represents a mere 8% of the state’s total 2006-2007 budget, and includes a 5.5% increase from last year’s spending for an inmate population that is expected to exceed 170,000 adults by the middle of 2007. It includes an increased $53 million for rehabilitation programs - as well as vocational programs such as masonry, forklift driving, carpentry, etc.

$128 million of the $8.1 billion budget will go to settlements in four federal court cases that include: $60 million for a juvenile justice remedial plan, $22 million for inmate dental care, $25 million for increased medical staff in adult facilities and $21 million more that will pay for defense lawyers representing parolees facing revocation. In addition, another $70 million was added to cover court-ordered pay raises for prison nurses and doctors. Together, court ordered settlements and raises comprise nearly $200 million of the state’s total budget.

Proposal “A Complete Failure,” Says Romero
State Senator Gloria Romero (D-Los Angeles) who has been an outspoken critic of the corrections department and is serving as chairwoman of the corrections oversight committee told the press that she has some “mixed feelings” about the governor’s proposed budget plans for corrections. She appreciates that the “R” for rehabilitation is back, but called the plans for the Division of Juvenile Justice “a complete failure,” because it doesn’t provide any details on plans to overhaul operations in what used to be called the California Youth Authority. “They have no plan,” says Romero.

The budget adds over 300 positions of staff to lower the ratio of staff to inmates, and opens more housing units within the system’s 8 youth institutions, but it says nothing about changing the approach toward juvenile incarceration in the state and says nothing about reducing the population. It also has no plan written to facilitate the return of non-American juvenile inmates to their home countries for treatment and rehabilitation closer to home.

Other critics have chimed in saying that overall the governor’s proposal for corrections is a “complete abandonment” of the governor’s earlier pledges during his campaign to reform the corrections department state-wide. Rose Braz of Californians United for a Responsible Budget (CURB) said that she thinks the governor is “falling back on failed policies.”

Officer Hiring Plan: Too Little Too Late?
As the governor proposes plans that will help the state avoid constructing the much-needed facilities in order to continue protecting public safety, another potential disaster continues to brew within the correctional system. The state’s prison system faces the potential shortage of thousands of officers over the next few years, something that will jeopardize not only the safety of the inmates housed within the state’s 33 facilities, but the officers who are currently working there as well. Anticipated retirements and a huge drop in hiring after the academy was temporarily closed back in 2004 has administration scrambling to fill vacancies and recruit enough potential candidates to prevent future problems.

Chapter President Martin Aroian of the CCPOA CIM told the press in a recent interview that they have officers who are putting in “more than 40 hours a week in overtime,” as officers at other institutions throughout the state can attest. CIM is not unique in its situation - officers are being forced over to fill post-vacancy positions on a regular basis at Ironwood as well as other institutions. As Aroian said, “many are doing it not by choice.”

In addition, 6 other bargaining units join us, whose contracts will also expire in 2006 - in fact, 18 of the 21 bargaining units in the state of California will be negotiating contracts that have already expired or will expire this year. SEIU (Service Employees International Union, Local 1000), represents administrative workers, nurses, teachers, librarians, printers, janitors and technology workers make up the more than 90,000 member union, which represents 9 bargaining units that it will have to negotiate in 2006. Seven other unions that represent scientists, engineers, firefighters, Highway Patrol officers, doctors, psychiatric technicians and operators of heavy equipment, will also be called upon to re-negotiate their contracts this year.

Mike Jimenez, President of CCPOA told the press, “We’re looking forward to the fight. It’ll give us the opportunity to keep the membership rallied in a political year, and give them direction for their anger.”

Many say that even though the public workers’ unions defeated the Governor’s Special Election in 2005, there is still a “bad air” about the relationship between union workers and the current administration. SEIU 1000 President Jim Hard stated that he hadn’t seen any “real change” in attitude toward state workers saying, “We haven’t spoken to the guy [Governor Schwarzenegger] since the summer of 2004, when he was still engaging us. Since November we’ve been trying to negotiate a contract with him, but he hasn’t given his negotiators the authority to negotiate.”

Some experts say that the combination of CCPOA and SEIU 1000 up for negotiation at the same time and in an election year could mean a long and tumultuous fight for all involved. SEIU 1000 was meeting with representatives and negotiators on a regular basis in 2005 until the time of the Special Election. In December, two meetings produced no breakthroughs, and currently the administration has set up no additional meetings for 2006. The CCPOA has also had some issues with the state, considering that the administration reneged on the 2002 contract signed by the union back in 2004, in the middle of a five-year contract deal.

The Governor’s office isn’t giving any hints as to what is in store for any pay scale changes in 2006 for state workers. Department of Finance spokesman H.D. Palmer had been quoted by the press earlier this week stating, “Anything regarding employee compensation will be part of the budget the governor will send to the Legislature on January 10th.” And Personnel Administration Department director Navarro has stated that the state is planning to “conduct its most comprehensive compensation study in 20 years” and will have it completed by March 2006 and use it as a pay/benefits guide.

In 2005 the administration achieved agreements with the unions that represent state attorneys, administrative law judges and safety employees. The safety employees received no general pay increase, however four sub-categories within that department will receive between five and ten-percent adjustments. The lawyers received a 2.5% raise retroactive to July 5th, and an additional two to four-percent cost-of-living increase that will begin July 1, 2006.

In order to receive these increases, both unions agreed to health cost cuts that would phrase in over the next two years for dependents of “new hire” employees. The Chief Legislative Advocate for the California Union of Safety Employees, Tim Fries, said his union was basically given a choice to accept the deal from the state, or continue paying an extra $150/month to cover the cost of their healthcare. “They call this collective bargaining?” he said, “There’s no collective bargaining about it - it’s called collective begging.”

The lawyers also agreed to what SEIU’s representatives call “a crummy deal.” This includes a series of pension changes such as an opt-out provision of CalPERS in exchange for a salary stipend, an extra 1% each year into retirement and final pension based upon a 3-year average salary instead of a 1-year high. Other unions within the state are watching this deal and are wondering what the state has in store for their own contract negotiations.

But Navarro says that he wants to get away from the “cookie-cutter approach to bargaining,” saying that the deals with the lawyers and safety employees do not signal what the state has planned for the other bargaining units in negotiation. He said, “You have to tailor the contracts to the particular group of employees you’re dealing with.”

Not as a part of any negotiations, during the examination of the prison system’s health care system, Judge Henderson of the U.S. District Court awarded direct-care nurses that work in state prisons and hospitals a one-year, three-stage 18-percent raise. He also awarded a $20,000 bonus for new nursing hires in “hard to recruit” areas, as well as a 10-percent raise for prison doctors.

Union members should be sure to stay aware of all news regarding their bargaining unit negotiations, as well as attend monthly union meetings, and are encouraged to read the newsletters and mailings that come from the state-level offices. 2006 will be a “fighting year” for many of the state’s unions, but after the victories that public workers enjoyed over the current administration in 2005, they should be encouraged by their successes and ready for the next battle.