By ESTEBAN PARRA
08/25/2004
Members of a corrections union that represents non-uniformed workers, such as the counselor raped during a July hostage standoff at the state's largest prison, asked officials Tuesday for an increase in hazardous duty pay.
Six members of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local 247 filed a grievance requesting the increase during a meeting with Department of Correction officials, corrections spokeswoman Beth Welch said.
Although corrections officers received a $600 hazardous duty pay increase last month, non-uniformed prison workers did not.
"There were several of us who attended this meeting because we wanted the Department of Correction to realize that this was an important issue to us," said Rhonda Lee Zawora, an administrative assistant for the department's treatment services and a member of Local 247.
Local 247 represents counselors, food and maintenance supervisors and correctional officers from lieutenants through captains.
Non-uniformed workers deserve hazardous duty pay just like any other workers inside the prison, Zawora said, because they are just as likely to be injured. The counselor who was attacked in July was held hostage for nearly seven hours until a corrections officer shot and killed her attacker, a serial rapist.
"The hazardous duty pay issue is not something that can be resolved here at the DOC level," Welch said. Although the grievance was written down, giving the increase would require action by lawmakers, she said.
Zawora said many workers have been in contact with lawmakers, through mail, phone conversations or visits.
Local 247, along with the Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 10, joined members of the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware last month in a protest of low pay and poor working conditions.
Corrections officers are also protesting the number of vacancies in the department. Of the 1,830 corrections officer positions in Delaware's penal system, 295 were vacant, officials said. Those vacancies include 44 posts held by officers away on military duty.
As part of their protest, union members have stopped accepting voluntary overtime, some of which is used to staff vacancies in the department's Court and Transportation unit. That unit is responsible for transporting inmates to and from sites and events including mandatory court hearings. While 14 officers accepted the overtime shifts Monday, none accepted the shifts Tuesday.
Because of the lack of volunteers, the department started assigning staff training relief officers to fill vacant shifts last week.
Contact Esteban Parra at eparra@delawareonline.com or 324-2299.
