Both Ramsey County and Washington County have asked Teamsters Correctional Officers to re-open signed contracts to take away wages. Both were told "no," by our B.A. Tom Perkins. A signed contract is a contract.
To Hennepin County we also say no give backs. Four years ago we sat in Sheriff McGowan's office with Hennepin County Labor Relations and were asked to accept 0% in cost of living wages for two years. We were told this would be a "once in a lifetime" request. Unlike the licensed deputy association, we agreed to this and did not arbitrate (they lost). We, the largest jail in the upper Midwest, fell behind in wages to most smaller metro area jails. Our incomes were also decimated by rising health care costs and gasoline prices. In short our real income shrunk dramatically.
This last contract we finally got a cost of living adjustment and will not give it back! Especially in light of the fact the county will most likely offer a 0% cost of living raise this next contract round.
What about the County Board's furlough program? We will not participate. Asking you to "give back" three days is equivalent to a three day suspension for being a public employee! Not to mention Sheriff Stanek's new schedule that requires us to work fifteen more days a year for the same wage! We are essential employees that keep dangerous people off of the street. We are not tax payer leaching pencil pushers as Governor Pawlenty would have some believe. Nor glorified security guards as others would have you believe. Corrections Officers have higher injury and workers compensation rates then police.
We will not reopen a signed contract. We can't control what the County offers us this year in negotiations, but I'll be damned if we give back money that's been agreed upon. Money we will never make up for in the future. We provide the public a vital service and are not the cause of government waste.
1 comment:
sangambayard-c-m.com
Post a Comment