Website May Be Down

My webhost is changing servors. Our Detentionhome Website may go down. This blog will continue to be up as will our e-group.

Excessive Discipline Set For Arbitration

Teamsters 320 has filed for arbitration on behalf of one of our members over an excessive 3 day discipline. Our member with a clean discipline record received a DWI out of town and notified the employer. He subsequently received a 3 day suspension. The pattern of many years has been a one day suspension for a first time offense with a clean record.

Thanks to our B.A. Tom Perkins who spent 3 hours of his vacation time waiting to settle this via conference call.

Grievance settled-Shift bid available!

About 24 hours after a wave of grievances were filed by Teamsters detention deputies the Hennepin County Sheriff's Office made the shift bid available. This is a vivid reminder that solidarity works. A Union is not just an organization you pay dues to. It's all of us united.

Thanks for your solidarity.

32 grievances in a couple hours!

32 grievances were filed late dayshift and early mids over the shift bid not being available. At 1730 a jail Inspector called and said the bid would be available 2/19. Way to go Teamsters. If it doesn't materialize I expect 150 grievances! See the e-group.

Sheriff's Office Violates Agreement

On Friday the 13th of February the HENNEPIN COUNTY SHERIFF'S OFFICE PROFESSIONAL STANDARDS DIVISION issued a memo stating that:

The Shift Bid has been delayed. More information is forth-coming.

This is a direct violation of our Agreement with our employer Hennepin County!

Our Agreement reads in Article 7, sec. 4: "On or about February 15 and August 15 of each year, each Detention Deputy and Detention Technician shall be permitted to bid for the shift such employee prefers within the work unit of the Sheriff's Office to which such Detention Deputy and Detention Technician is assigned. "

This blatant disregard of our Agreement affects not only detention deputies and techs right to bid their shift but also cuts into the time employees have to bid their Prime Time Vacation which is due by April 1st.

I will be speaking with Hennepin County Labor Relations tomorrow. I'll let you know via the e-group if any action is needed on your part.

Apparently the Professional Standards Division doesn't include following the contract!

DOC Releases Video of Prison Fights

To bring home the costs of budget cuts and double bunking, something we do regularly, the MN DOC has released video of what goes on behind the walls.

http://www.startribune.com/local/39550512.html

Any of this look familiar?

Labor Management Meet & Confer RE: 28 Days

Teamsters 320 BA Tom Perkins and your Stewards met with managment and Hennepin County Labor Relations and heard their proposal. (More details for those on our egroup). We have another meeting set for February 25th 2009.

February 10 Union Meeting Info

The Sheriff's Administration is going to meet with Teamsters and Labor Relations and give us their proposal on the 28 days.

We will NOT need everyone at the next union meeting (although all members are encouraged to attend meetings) it will not deal with the 28 days.

IMPORTANT TEAMSTERS UNION MEETING

Concerned about possible upcoming schedule changes?

All detention deputy and tech union members are urged to attend the next union meeting on February 10th.

Twin Cities General Membership meetings held at the Teamster building, 3001 University Avenue, S.E., Minneapolis.

2nd TuesdaySocial Hour: 6:30 p.m.General Membership: 7:00 p.m.

A Brief History of Our Paid Holidays

When I started working at the Hennepin County Jail in 1990 Holidays were worked at straight time, lunches were considered unpaid except for a $600 a year interrupted lunch check, and we owed the Sheriff's Office "payback hours."

In 1994 we initiated a lawsuit against then Hennepin County Sheriff McGowan to get the Holiday benefits already listed in our contract enforced. Our then labor association LELS at first backed us then testified in court against us. The judges ruling was that while we appeared correct in our interpretation of the contract the contract was between Hennepin County and LELS therefore we had no legal standing to challenge it.

We then decertified LELS and organized under Teamsters Local 320 in 1998. Our first Teamster contract recognized our full 8.5 hours worked and gave us enough hours to receive the full Holiday benefit afforded other Hennepin County workers.

The Sheriff's Office then claimed they couldn't afford to give us the Holidays off and Sheriff McGowan cut our days back to 8 hours. This meant our 88 hours for the 11 Holidays got sucked up and we actually had to work an additional 48 hours as "payback" hours. This caused a rift between us and Sheriff McGowan that was never bridged. Through pressure from the Teamsters and member tactics like putting in for overtime at the end of each shift (because there were no shift overlaps) the half hour overlap and Holiday benefit was restored.

The Sheriff's Office next tactic was to cash out the Deferred Holidays rather then giving us the actual days off specified in our Agreement. A grievance was filed and the result was the Letter of Understanding. The Letter of Understanding made it so that Detention Deputies had the choice of either cashing out the Deferred Holiday or banking up to 24 hours of Deferred Holiday. This was a benefit to the Sheriff's Office because they had less time off to cover and a benefit to Detention Deputies who preferred the cash option.

The preface to the Letter of Understanding reads:

LETTER OF UNDERSTANDING BETWEEN
HENNEPIN COUNTY AND
TEAMSTERS LOCAL #320
DETENTION DEPUTY/TELECOMMUNICATOR UNIT

The parties agree to the following interpretation regarding holiday pay under Article 11 for Detention Deputies who are assigned to a 6-3 schedule of 8.5 hour days:

A few pertinent points.

1) The Agreement is between Hennepin County and Teamsters Local 320 NOT the Sheriff's Office.

2) Allowing the Employer to cash out Deferred Holidays rather then giving us the days off is dependant on the 6-3 schedule of 8.5 hour days.

Any variation in these hours or schedule violates the Letter of Understanding and will result in getting the 11 deferred Holidays off per the Agreement.

Riot at JC

Officials have vowed to review security at the Hennepin County Juvenile Detention Center after an inmate, two teachers, and a staff member were attacked during what police describe as a riot inside the facility.

Authorities said the incident broke out during a school session at the downtown Minneapolis center on Thursday.

Six teens allegedly rushed their 59-year-old teacher, and struck him on the back of his head before taking his jail keys and emergency phone.

Full Story & Video KSTP

State of the Union, Recent Grievances

The following are recent unresolved grievances that the union is representing members on:

2 members grieved being given a 3 day suspension while a licensed deputy received only a two day suspension for the same incident.

1 member grieved given a 3 day suspension for a one time misdemeanour DWI. The standard suspension for other county correctional officers is none. The HCSO pattern has been only a 1 day suspension. There is no reason for the upward departure especially since the member has no prior discipline on his record.

1 member filed a grievance after being given both a Letter of Reprimand and being banned from working OT for a period of time after missing OT that was signed up for. The grievance is not that discipline was meted out, but that both the formal discipline (Letter of Reprimand ) and the informal banning of signing up for OT are being used.

BLACK LEATHER INFORMATION

ATTENTION DETENTION DEPUTIES WHO SWITCHED TO BLACK LEATHER

I need a list of all detention deputies who purchased new black leather items when ordered to so by the employer and how much it cost you.

Sorry, new purchases only, not dye jobs. Pass this info on to your co-workers and put the info in my mailbox or email steward320@msn.com with the info. The sooner I have this info the better.

November 2008 Grievance Update

This past week we resolved/won a grievance for a member who was missing overtime pay for 2 months from the RNC.

A step 2 grievance meeting regarding excessive discipline is scheduled for November 18th.

The contractual reimbursement for those who switched to black leather is still being pursued.

The breakfast grievance is is still active.

Thanks to all of our Veterans!

Thank you all Veterans! Freedom isn't free and we are indebted to you!

When the newspaper gets it wrong

The story's title in Friday's Star Tribune reads:

"Suspect is mistakenly released before burglary charges filed"

Mistake?

The last paragraph of the story says, "She was arrested Tuesday and booked into the Hennepin County Jail to await charges on three burglaries. But because of a clerical error, she was released Thursday 12 minutes before a judge signed and filed the documents charging her with the crimes."

Clerical error?

Let me educate Tim Harlow, the reporter, how this works. A person is arrested by the police on "probable cause," in this case burglary. The time someone can be held on probable cause is 36 hours, starting at midnight the night of the arrest or 48 hours from the time of arrest if a judge has not reviewed the case. The purpose of this probable cause hold is to give the police time to investigate the case and present the case to the city or county attorney for them to charge out the case. If the city or county attorney doesn't believe there is a case the suspect gets released. The longest a person can be held without a formal charge is the 36 or 48 hour probable cause time. This is a protection for citizens to protect them from indefinite confinement without being charged.

When the police arrest someone on probable cause they are given a copy of the PC (probable cause) form with the time on the form that the PC time is up. Usually the jail gives a courtesy call to the arresting agency the day before letting them know that a detainee's PC time is coming up the following day. Finally when the PC time is up the jail calls the county and city attorneys offices to see if charges are pending. If they are the person remains in custody, if not they get released 36 or 48 hours expired. Thousands of people arrested on a probable cause hold get released 36 or 48 hours expired every year. This is a common place event.

The burglar released in Tim Harlow's story's 48 hours expired at 10:15 A.M., she was released at 11:43 A.M., ample time to have her charged.The time we could legally detain the inmate without charges was up, and the Minneapolis Police FAILED to present the case to the county attorney in time.

So if there was a "clerical error" it was on the side of the MPD, not the jail as it would appear to the average reader. We simply followed all of the rules in place to give the police time to get the case charged and the ones to protect citizens from wrongful detention. This was no "mistake," this was the only legal option the jail had in a lawful society. A society that doesn't allow a citizen to be held indefinately without a charge, there are time limits and those limits were up.

Annual Stewards Training

October 25th was another excellent stewards training put on by Teamsters Local 320 and the IBT.

Topics included a talk on Contract Costing by Jim Kimball, IBT Director, Economics and Contracts. He included an excellent presentation on how we got into the "bailout" mess this country and the global economy is in.

The Roles and Responsibilities of a Steward by Shawn Ellis, IBT Central Region Training Coordinator

D.R.I.V.E. presentation

Grievance Determination

Law Enforcement Issues

Overview of Public Employee Law (PELRA)

As always this was very informational and useful training and it's always great to meet with some of the other stewards of our 11,500 member local.

Former Chicago cop arrested for torturing inmates in custody

Ex-Chicago cop arrested in ’90s torture scandal

AP-CHICAGO - A former high-ranking Chicago police official was arrested Tuesday on charges he lied when he denied that he and detectives under his command tortured murder suspects.
A federal indictment unsealed Tuesday accuses former police Lt. Jon Burge of perjury and obstruction of justice for statements he made in 2003 when answering questions related to a civil-rights lawsuit.

The arrest capped a long-running controversy over allegations that beatings, electric shocks and death threats were used against suspects at Burge's Area 2 violent crimes headquarters.

Full Story

If ever there was an argument for corrections officers running jails rather then cops with a vested interest in an investigation this is it!

Just emailed in!

Chicago Sheriff (Cook Co) stops performing forclosure evictions!

Cook County Sheriff's Press Release

Wednesday, October 08, 2008 — With Cook County on pace to conduct a record number of evictions this year – and an unprecedented number of evictions due to mortgage foreclosures – Cook County Sheriff Thomas J. Dart announced Wednesday he is suspending all foreclosure evictions.

The move comes as a result of the growing number of evictions that involve renters – most of whom are dutifully paying their rent every month, only to later learn their landlord has fallen behind on mortgage payments and the building has gone into foreclosure. While mortgage companies are supposed to conduct a basic due diligence investigation before requesting an eviction – identifying all occupants – sheriff’s deputies are regularly finding no work done by the mortgage company in advance, leaving the identifying work to deputies working at taxpayer expense.

“These mortgage companies only see pieces of paper, not people, and don’t care who’s in the building,” Dart said. “They simply want their money and don’t care who gets hurt along the way. On top of it all, they want taxpayers to fund their investigative work for them. We’re not going to do their jobs for them anymore. We’re just not going to evict innocent tenants. It stops today.”


Dart - believed to be the first sheriff of a major metropolitan area to take such a step - said he wants a safety net to be established either by the judiciary or state Legislature, to protect those most harmed by the mortgage crisis.

Specifically, he wants mortgage companies to be forced to provide sufficient information to the Sheriff’s Office in order to conduct an eviction. That will provide greater notification to tenants that their building is in foreclosure and will require mortgage companies and their attorneys to do more leg work in advance of an eviction.

Because the banks aren’t doing that now, more than 1/3 of all trips by sheriff’s eviction teams results in finding nobody home to verify who lives there or finding someone other than the mortgage-holder.

Last year, Dart pushed a bill before the Legislature that would have required mortgage companies to identify any children or senior citizens living in a unit before requesting an eviction. Dart hoped to link those vulnerable residents with social service agencies, but banking and real estate industry lobbyists killed the bill.

Foreclosure filings have steadily climbed in Cook County since 1999 and the number of foreclosure evictions has almost tripled in just two years.

In 1999, there were 12,935 mortgage foreclosure cases filed in Cook County. Noticeable increases came in 2006, when 18,916 were filed and last year, when 32,269 were filed. This year, Dart projects more than 43,000 to be filed.

Dart said his office is on pace to conduct evictions stemming from mortgage foreclosures at 4,500 properties this year. That compares to just 1,771 in 2006.

“The people we’re interacting with are, many times, oblivious to the financial straits their landlord might be in,” Dart said. “They are the innocent victims here and they are the ones all of us must step up and find some way to protect.”