Archive for August, 2007
CCPOA BREAKS OFF “BAD FAITH” CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS
PRESS STATEMENT - FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CCPOA BREAKS OFF “BAD FAITH” CONTRACT NEGOTIATIONS
“You can’t negotiate if the other side won’t talk,” says union leader.
WEST SACRAMENTO — The California Correctional Peace Officers Association today announced it was filing an unfair labor grievance with the Public Employee Relations Board for “bad faith” contract negotiations on the part of the Governor’s representatives, and said it would no longer participate “in this charade.”
“After four months of silence, it’s very clear these people have no intention of negotiating in good faith,” said CCPOA President Mike Jimenez. “Continuing this process would be futile and an utter waste of everybody’s time.”
Jimenez said CCPOA negotiators had been in the same room with the Governor’s contract negotiators for just ten minutes since the mediation process began four months ago. “And that was to hear the mediator explain the ground rules,” said Jimenez. “Since then, we’ve sat in two separate rooms, with the other side refusing to disclose even their names. We don’t know who we’re dealing with or if they’re even empowered to conclude a deal. It’s a wall of silence — with no discussion, no negotiations, no dialogue. It’s the definition of bad faith.”
Jimenez said that all requests to meet with the Governor, his chief of staff or his secretary of corrections to resolve the stalemate have been refused. “Clearly, this Governor and his administration have no interest in negotiating a fair contract,” said Jimenez.
“Make no mistake — we’re ready and willing to stand before the Legislature or any other public body, make our case and live with the consequences,” said Jimenez. “But it has to be in full view of the public. No more silence, no more bad faith, no more foot dragging. Without a contract and buy-in from the men and women who work in the prisons, prison reform is impossible — a point legislators made when they enacted AB 900. If they’re serious about fixing the prisons, they need to get serious about this.”
CDC in the News (8/24 Update)
CCPOA slams prison pay formula, pulls out of mediated negotiations SacBee.com 8/23
The state made a new contract offer Wednesday to the California correctional officers union, which all but rejected the proposal out of hand…
Department of Juvenile Justice (DJJ) to be cut in half? - SFGate.com 8/23
After years of struggling to reform the state’s deeply troubled juvenile justice system, the Legislature has agreed on a potentially historic realignment that would slash by half the number of youths in juvenile prisons and place the inmates in their home counties…
Three recognized for saving lives at Soledad facility Californian.com 8/22
Just after 9 p.m., Butts and Hill were performing a security check in the Central Administrative Segregation Unit when they saw an inmate hanging by his neck in his cell, the warden said. Shouting the alarm, the cell door opened and both officers ran in…
Prison guards break off contract talks 8/22
The union representing the state’s 33,000 guards has broken off contract negotiations with Governor Schwarzenegger’s administration. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association says the administration has refused to meet face-to-face with union negotiators and appears to have little interest in settling the 14-month standoff…
State Budget Finally Passed LATimes.com 8/22
California’s 51-day budget impasse ended Tuesday when Senate Republicans who had been blocking a spending plan gave up their fight, accepting largely symbolic concessions on a few pet issues…
Agents To Order 189 Sex Offenders To Relocate CBS2.com 8/19
State parole agents plan to order 189 Inland Empire sex offenders, 56 of them from Riverside County, to relocate their residences farther from schools and parks, it was reported Sunday…
California Inmates Sent to Mississippi SacBee.com 8/18
California corrections officials have begun sending hundreds of foreign national inmates against their will to a private prison in Mississippi as part of a stepped-up, out-of-state transfer plan…
CDC in the News (8/17 Update)
28 cows die after prison dairy escape RecordNet.com 8/17
Officials at Tracy’s Deuel Vocational Institution are trying to figure out how a herd of 59 cows escaped from the prison’s dairy early Monday, causing 28 of the animals to be killed when they wandered into the paths of passing vehicles…
Arizona Still Not Sending Inmates to Indiana IndyStar.com 8/15
Arizona is proceeding with plans to send more inmates to private prisons in Oklahoma while transfers to an Indiana prison where a riot occurred remain on hold, the state Department of Corrections said Tuesday…
Rioting Inmates May Face More Time Star-Telegram.com 8/15
Dozens of inmates who were eligible to be considered for parole now face the possibility of more prison time after a disturbance Monday night at a private correctional facility in west Parker County…
Private Prison Still on Lock Down After Disturbance Star-Telegram.com 8/14
Dozens of inmates who were eligible to be considered for parole are facing the possibility of more prison time following a disturbance Monday night at a private correctional facility in Parker County…
Assembly Members File Motion in Prisons Case PE.com 8/13
Assembly Republicans Monday intervened in prisoner class-action lawsuits in an attempt to maintain control over the prison-crowding crisis before a court-appointed panel can impose solutions, such as a limit on the inmate population…
Prison Riot at Susanville Caused by Ignorant Decision NewsBlaze.com 8/12
Sources close to the prison heard the riot started because Black inmates were moved into a dangerous area, controlled by “Nortenos”, a Northern California hispanic gang. Some of the Black inmates protested, refusing to go because they knew it would cause trouble. A Sergeant Correctional Officer concurred, but the Lieutenant who ordered the relocation overruled the Sergeant and the protestors. The black inmates were then forcibly “relocated” to the Nortenos’ area…
CDC in the News (8/10 Update)
Private Prison Guard Smuggles in Vodka - For Himself? SETLive 8/10
Roy Lee Cooper Jr., 22, who had not been arrested Thursday, told a Jefferson County investigator the alcohol was for personal use and not for an inmate, according to a probable cause affidavit…
Mysterious Illness Kills Inmates at Del Rio Jail MySanAntonio.com 8/9
A mysterious illness at a Del Rio detention center that has killed two inmates and hospitalized two others within the past month has baffled health authorities, who have asked the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention for help…
Prison Financing Targeted in Lawsuit SacBee.com 8/9
California’s $7.9 billion prison construction package came in for its first legal attack Wednesday when an activist group filed a lawsuit in Sacramento saying the plan’s financing mechanism violates the state constitution…
500-Bed Mini Prison for Riverside County? PE.com 8/9
County and state corrections leaders met Wednesday to discuss ways to fix the overcrowded jails and prisons threatening public safety around California…
Merced County Correctional Officer Injured MercedSunStar.com 8/7
Correctional officer Sam Spangler received bruised ribs in the 8:15 a.m. incident involving two Norteño criminal street gang members who had pounced on another prisoner, according to Detective Scott Dover of the Merced County Sheriff’s Department…
Stockton Votes to Re-Open NCWF RecordNet.com 8/8
The county Board of Supervisors’ 4-1 decision was largely symbolic, since the state Department of Corrections already owns the east Stockton prison and has announced intentions to use it as a re-entry facility for local men serving the final year of their sentences…
Appeals court narrows focus of grounds for suing employer TheCalifornian.com 8/7
In Jones v. California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation the court ruled that workers’ compensation is the exclusive remedy for injuries arising out of work. Therefore, related claims of assault, battery, emotional distress, negligent supervision and retention are to be heard in that forum. This substantially limits the monetary damages available to the employee…
Want to Top Governor’s Salary? Become a Correctional Officer ModBee.com 8/6
Wanted: Applicants willing to work long hours in expensive, overcrowded state prisons. Must cope with violent criminals, plus a bunch of nonviolent offenders who contribute to overcrowding…
CDC in the News (8/3 Update)
Governor to Appeal Prison Study PressTelegram.com 7/31
Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger on Friday signaled his intention to appeal a federal court decision that orders a special judicial panel to examine severe overcrowding in California’s prison system…
Man featured in ‘Prison Town USA’ had lengthy record LassenNews.com 7/31
Questions and rumors have been flying around Susanville for several months regarding the “Prison Town, USA” segment about Susanville now airing on PBS. Many residents expressed discontent about the film before it was released, and to some, those concerns have intensified since the program’s first airing on Tuesday night…
CDCR to Change Rules for Search NBC11.com 7/31
At a state Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation hearing, prison officials asked for rule changes making it easier for guards to pat down inmates’ visitors. The rules would specify that guards would not need probable cause in order to search for contraband. Officers would only have to suspect contraband, according to Luery…
Norco Taking Collections to Support Troops in Iraq PE.com 7/30
Prison officials who work with the grieving mother have set up boxes at entrance gates for officers and staff members to drop off hygiene products such as razors and baby wipes, and food items such as beef jerky. The collection began Thursday and so far two large care packages have been shipped off to the troops…
CA Pays More for Private Prisons Than Hawaii KPUA.net 7/22
A prison operator is moving 450 Hawaii inmates out of Mississippi and to a facility in Arizona to make space available for several hundred inmates from California… Hawaii pays about 58 dollars per inmate per day to C-C-A. California pays 63 dollars per day per inmate…
Transgendered Inmate Sues California Over Prison Rape Claims IHT.com 7/20
A transgender woman who claims she was repeatedly raped and beaten by a male cell mate went to court this week to challenge a state policy that assigns inmates like her to women’s prisons only if they have had gender-changing surgery…
Fewer Parole Violators Return to Jail MercuryNews.com 7/13
Prison officials in Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger’s administration acknowledged Thursday that some parole violators are no longer being sent back to prison - part of a philosophical shift that will reduce overcrowding in the state’s prisons…
Receiver Investigates Inmate Deaths in Other States SFGate.com 7/10
Robert Sillen, who was appointed by a federal judge last year, said the deaths of the three men in separate incidents in January and May raised questions about their care in those prisons, but he does not yet know whether their deaths were suspicious or related to any negligence…