IBCO Files Bill to Give County COs Civil Service Protection
The IBCO has filed a bill (House 2412) that would give correctional officers working for any sheriff’s department civil service protection under Mass. General Laws Chapter 31.
The protections in hiring and promotions offered under Chapter 31 become even more important, says IBCO Legislative Director Ray McGrath, as the Commonwealth considers putting the remaining independent sheriff’s departments under state financial control.
“If there’s going to be equity in wages and benefits, especially retirement, it starts with the employment and promotion processes,” said McGrath. “It’s time to take politics out of the sheriff’s departments. The future for county COs is much brighter with the consistent equity that Chapter 31 offers.”
Correctional officers who work for state-controlled institutions are already covered under Ch. 31 civil service laws.
We will keep you posted on any developments on H.2412 here on www.ibco.org.
President Obama Announces Two Nominees for National Labor Relations Board
President Barack Obama recently announced his first two nominations to fill vacant seats on the National Labor Relations Board.
On April 24, Obama announced long-time labor allies Craig Becker and Mark Pearce as his first two nominees to the NLRB. Both Becker and Pierce have lengthy histories of fighting on behalf of America’s working families, and their nominations are another sign of Obama’s commitment to bettering the lives of workers across the country.
“Both nominees are highly distinguished and well qualified for these positions,” said IBCO National Director David J. Holway. “By announcing nominees with such extensive worker-friendly backgrounds, President Obama has taken a step towards evening the odds for our members and the working families of America.”
Becker currently serves as Associate General Council to both the SEIU and AFL-CIO and has appeared before the NLRB many times in the past. He has also argued labor and employment cases in almost every federal court of appeals and has even argued cases in front of the United States Supreme Court.
A life-long labor attorney, Pearce is a founding partner of the Buffalo, New York labor-side law firm of Crieghton, Pearce, Johnson & Giroux. Like Becker, Pearce has an extensive background arguing cases before state and federal courts and agencies such as the NYS Public Employment Relations Board, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, the US Department of Labor and the NLRB. Pearce was also appointed to serve as a board member on the New York State Industrial Board of Appeals in 2008.
Berkshire, Suffolk Members Get Raises, Language Improvements in New Contracts
IBCO members at the Berkshire County House of Correction and the Suffolk County House of Correction have ratified new contracts with impressive financial packages and significant language improvements.
Berkshire County members will see pay raises of up to 9% over three years, an outstanding package considering the difficult economic conditions facing the Commonwealth. The improvements don’t stop at the pay scale—they include improved language in key areas.
“We finally got better language for our seniority, for shift bidding and layoffs, which we never had before,” said Kevin Nolli, chief steward of Local 297. “We’ve been fighting for years to get that language, so this is a big victory.” With the possibility of layoffs on the horizon, the new seniority language means that any layoffs or bumping will be handled by seniority, not by any favoritism from management.
Additional contractual language provides for up to 10 days of pay if an officer is suspended pending an investigation. Under previous contracts, the IBCO used to have to fight to get back pay for officers who had been suspended pending investigations but were ultimately cleared. Officers will also receive an additional week of vacation time.
Congratulations to Nolli, National Representative Robert Dickson, and the negotiating team for Local 297 for a job well done.
Meanwhile, Suffolk County members will also see pay raises of up to 9% over three years. Members who were not upgraded during a salary review in 2006 will have their salaries reviewed no later than June 2010.
For Suffolk members, the other big win came in a guaranteed health insurance contribution rate. “There’s language before the legislature that would move the sheriff’s department under the state umbrella,” said John McLaughin, president of Local 298. If the legislation passed without a contract in place for his local, McLaughlin was certain that their health insurance contributions would be increased. “By settling, we’ve locked in a good protection until 2012.”
An additional benefit is the start of an incentive program allowing members to convert a portion of unused sick time into personal time.
Hats off to McLaughlin, National Representative Mike Bombard, and Local 298’s negotiating team for reaching a successful agreement.
Governor Files Bill to Transfer County Sheriffs to State
Governor Deval Patrick has filed a bill that, if passed, would transfer control of the state’s seven remaining county sheriffs’ departments from those county officers to the Commonwealth.
The bill would transfer control over the duties, responsibilities, property, and employees of the Barnstable, Bristol, Dukes, Nantucket, Norfolk, Plymouth and Suffolk sheriffs’ departments to the state. The state’s other seven county sheriffs’ departments have been under control of the Commonwealth since the state abolished their county governments beginning in the 1990s.
The IBCO is already monitoring the progress of this legislation on Beacon Hill. We will do everything possible to ensure that your retirement, collective bargaining rights, and benefits are protected if this proposal is passed.
You can see the governor’s letter to the legislature and the text of the here.
Watch www.ibco.org for more updates on this legislation.
IBCO Officer’s 20-Day Suspension Reversed
The IBCO successfully reversed an officer’s 20-day suspension for alleged retaliation against an inmate after the union proved the report at the center of the allegations didn’t exist.
In October 2004, an inmate at the Pondville Correctional Institute in Norfolk, Massachusetts was discovered out of place in the warehouse section of the facility. In front of about 20 other inmates, he refused repeated orders to return to his block. Correctional Program Officer II Donald Stewart, an 18-year veteran in the Mass. Department of Correction, was functioning as shift commander during the incident. Pondville was short-staffed that day, with only three officers for nearly 200 inmates. Concerned that the situation might become explosive, Stewart removed the inmate from the warehouse to a holding cell and requested permission to move him to maximum security. The director of security, however, denied Stewart’s request.
Four months after the incident, the inmate wrote a letter to the Pondville superintendent, charging that Stewart had retaliated against him by filing a disciplinary report on the inmate the day after the incident. The inmate said that he continued to experience harassment at the hands of Pondville officers.
In May 2005, the DOC opened an investigation into the incident and its alleged aftermath. An investigator interviewed both Stewart and the inmate. At a commissioners’ hearing in January 2006, the DOC concluded that Stewart had retaliated against the inmate, ruling that it was “more likely than not” that Stewart had harassed and retaliated against the inmate. The report called the inmate a “credible inmate who was well-educated.” The DOC suspended Stewart for 20 days without pay and transferred him involuntarily to another facility. The IBCO filed a grievance.
Throughout the grievance process, IBCO Local R1-75 President Robert Cutting and IBCO Attorney Julia Fahey argued that the DOC’s investigation was flawed and inaccurate, without evident proof of misconduct. The matter was finally sent to arbitration.
At arbitration, IBCO Attorney Michael Manning demonstrated that the alleged disciplinary report Stewart wrote against the inmate the day after the October 2004 incident was never written and did not exist. He introduced evidence that the inmate in question has a history of incurring disciplinary reports during his incarceration, and that the DOC relied on hearsay information from the inmate in deciding Stewart’s guilt. The arbitrator agreed with Manning and ordered Stewart’s 20-day suspension reversed. The DOC has since reversed Officer Stewart’s suspension and has initiated talks with the IBCO to settle the appeal of another officer’s suspension connected to other statements from the same inmate.
President Cutting praised attorneys Fahey and Manning after the arbitration win. “We knew from the beginning of the investigation that the Department did not have just cause to discipline our officers. We are greatly disappointed in the Departments’ recent tendency to accept inmate complaints against staff without full evaluation of the information and consideration of the source of the complaints. A sincere thank you to IBCO for another job well done!”
