Overtime? Really Mr. Duschere?

Star Tribune reporter Kevin Duchschere had some recent articles in the Star Tribune about overtime amounts paid out by Hennepin County. In one article he reports that,

The Sheriff's Department paid out the most, $2.7 million, an increase of 13.6 percent. Transportation was second, paying out $1.1 million in overtime, a 9.4 percent increase.

In another  Tribune article entitled,

See who received overtime from Hennepin County in 2011

they list all of our salaries and overtime worked for 2010 and 2011. I'm not sure of the motive. I suspect it's the usual idea of making Public Employees look like thieves. But your own numbers show I made about $5,000 less in 2011 then 2010!

Sheriff Stanek responded with, "We're the third-largest department within Hennepin County, but we are one of only two 24/7 operations, 365 days a year," he said. "Our jail population is up 4 percent over last year, and we're on track to have more bookings than we've had the last couple years."

and went on to cite the fact that overtime was used on the Occupy protests, Safe Streets and the May tornado.  Mark your calendars kids, I agree with Sheriff Stanek.

I'll further elaborate in an effort to educate Kevin Duchschere. The jail population fluctuates. The more inmates, the more staff needed to process them, care for them and get them either to court, released, the Workhouse or prison. Let me spell it out, if we have 800 inmates we need more staff to care for them then when there are 600. As Sheriff Stanek has pointed out our jail population is up. 

Furthermore we are not a Soviet gulag. We are an ACA accredited jail that also has MANDATORY standards set by the Minnesota Department of Corrections (DOC). Mr. Duchshere there are mandatory staff to inmate ratios. These are not designed to line our pockets but to keep inmates safe.

So you see, more inmates means more overtime. The overtime factor was further exasperated by the County Board's decision to cut Detention Deputy staff in the jail by 10 positions. That means those shortages had to be filled by overtime.

Let me continue your education Mr. Duchschere. Overtime in the jail is mandatory. Any empty spot on a shift must be filled according to DOC regulations. If no one volunteers, jail staff is forced to stay over or come in early. Often plans to go home, go to a kid's sporting event, attend family gatherings are thwarted by a "draft" (forced overtime). Again as Sheriff Stanek pointed out we are a 24/7 operation. We work weekends, nights and holidays. So you see, it doesn't matter if some individuals worked more overtime then others, every single hour of overtime would have been worked no matter how you slice it.

So rather then painting a picture about what fat cats we are, maybe you could thank us for the long hours we work watching the people the police take out of your neighborhood. The people you are afraid of. Some of us have even made the ultimate sacrifice this year. When your paper reports that violent crime is up by 66% and the police arrest more people; who do you think supervises those violent offenders?

I should also mention that we've had years of wage freezes. We have people working at the jail for three years still making starting pay. Some who haven't had a weekend off in years. So, you see Mr.Duchschere we are not high salaried fat cats, but hard working Public Servants working a dangerous job with long hours of mandatory overtime to protect you. 

One final point Mr. Ducschere, I'd like to thank your paper for listing all of out first and last names, even though the Sheriff's Office asked you not to. Most inmates only know  Detention Deputies by their  last names. Most Detention Deputies pay to have their phone numbers unlisted so our clientele don't show up at our homes to visit our families as they are apt to threaten. Thanks for making our homes and families easier to track down as we try to protect yours.

Labor and MNPEA News, September 2012

Judge strikes down Wis. law that effectively ended collective bargaining for public workers  Star Tribune

MNPEA Welcomes the Arrowhead Regional Corrections Board, Essential Employees

MNPEA Welcomes Sibley County Sheriff's OfficeEssentials

MNPEA Welcomes Witnthrop Licensed Essentials, Our 20th Unit in Under 12 Months     MNPEA.COM

Welcome aboard!

Julianne Ortman, the hypocritical Republican

On September 2, 2012 on Labor Day weekend I listened to State Senator Julianne Ortman being interviewed on the radio on the KTALK, Late Debate Show at about 3:30 PM. 

She began bragging at one point about the Senate stopping the State Public Employee Union's from settling their contract. She was referencing the action by Sen. Mike Parry who caused the Senate to not approve the already negotiated and agreed upon contract with the State Employee unions. She said something along the lines that the "Public Employees came like they do every year expecting a raise, but this time we told them no." Of course as Public Employees we know the reality is that their wages have been frozen for years.

This came as no surprise from a Senator  who voted against guaranteed pension benefits for public employees and voted to reduce the State workforce by 15%. I will grant that this is a common position of her political party, but while she talks the talk, and votes the vote she does not WALK THE WALK. Like too many politicians she's good at telling her constituents what they want to hear then doing something else. 

Here's something every one of her constituents should know. 

While Senator Ortman is big on attacking public employees she is one herself! Not just a State Senator, she is a Senior Administrative Manager with the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office and has been drawing a salary of over $90,000 a year since 2007. She gets not one, but two Public Employee Pensions, one from the Minnesota Senate and another State PERA pension from Hennepin County. 

As I wrote in an earlier post, she still works for the Sheriff's Office making about $90,000 a year in addition to the $40,000 a year she makes as a State Senator. She also racked up 77 hours of "overtime" (though salaried), when the 35W bridge collapsed. So while she votes against hard working Public Employees she doesn't miss an opportunity to cash out at the expense of the taxpayers any chance she gets.There have been allegations in the media in the past about her claiming pay from the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office and the State Senate at overlapping times.

Like us Hennepin County Detention Deputies, our fellow State Correctional Officers have also had no raises for years. We work days and nights, weekends and Holidays locked up with the dangerous people the police have removed from neighborhoods. We have endured years of no raises, yet Senator Ortman regales the fact the State Senate has yet again prevented them from getting a raise. She plays games with our hardships for political points, all while eating up a bigger piece of the pie then any of us.

I have an idea, I know a Public Employee position Senator Ortman could eliminate immediately by resigning her job with Hennepin County. After all she does support a 15% reduction in public employees. 

I have another idea, her constituents can vote for her challenger, Jim Weygand.

This post is written by Wade Laszlo, Union Steward, Minnesota Public Employees Association.