By Joe Rogalsky,
Delaware State News
DOVER - The union representing Delaware's correctional officers plans to file a complaint next week accusing the Department of Correction of unfair labor practices, the group's lawyer said Thursday.
John F. Brady, the attorney representing the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware, said the complaint will claim the agency overuses its ability to force employees to work mandatory overtime and illegally restricts officers' use of sick days.
The complaint will be filed with the state Public Employment Relations Board, Mr. Brady said, adding that COAD could also file with the federal National Labor Relations Board. He said the complaint has not been finalized.
Allan Deal, COAD's president, said the union's executive board asked Mr. Brady to prepare the action last week.
Officers have long been fed up with low staffing levels and pay issues, but their frustrations reached new heights after a July 12 incident at the Delaware Correctional Center, where a prison counselor was held hostage and raped. The nearly seven-hour ordeal ended when a correction officer shot and killed the inmate.
"It is year after year of putting up with stuff," Mr. Deal said.
"It just got to the point where we are not going to take it anymore. If the department won't fix the problems within the Department of Correction, we will fix them, whether the department likes it or not."
Commissioner of Correction Stanley W. Taylor said an agreement between the union and the state, in effect until the two sides agree on a long-term labor contract, allowed his agency to use mandatory overtime to maintain minimum staffing and security levels.
"I am surprised by the complaints expressed today by the union, given the positive and substantial discussions of Wednesday," Mr. Taylor said in a statement released Thursday evening.
"Further, we have been in normal labor management meetings and special task force meetings with the union for several months. At none of these meetings have these concerns been raised by the union.
"The interim labor agreement, agreed to by COAD, allows us to distribute mandatory overtime if operational or security needs require it."
Though prison officials have the authority to freeze officers for a mandatory second eight-hour shift in a day, Mr. Brady said the department has abused that ability.
He said the increased overtime has left officers burned out, diminishing their capacity to perform their jobs.
"It has been so repetitive that it is affecting job performance," Mr. Brady said.
"You are frozen over so much that you are not getting the rest you need. A worn-out correction officer could be at risk and a risk to public safety."
State employees, including correctional officers, receive 15 sick days a year. However, Mr. Brady said, different prisons have set varying limits on how many sick days an officer can use in a year. Even if an officer uses only 10 of his allotted 15 days, Mr. Brady said, the officer can be disciplined.
"The problem has been some wardens have put extra requirements on the use of sick time that are not supported by department policy or state law," Mr. Brady said.
Mr. Taylor said Thursday was the first time he had heard officers' concerns about sick-time policy.
"I am not aware of the complaint regarding sick leave," he said.
The fiscal 2005 budget bill contains language directing Gov. Ruth Ann Minner's administration to submit a report to lawmakers by Nov. 15 detailing ways to implement the recommendations of a task force that last year studied how to improve recruitment and retention among correction officers.
The state and COAD leaders have met twice, including Wednesday, to discuss possible recommendations. COAD held two general membership meetings Thursday at the Blue Hen Corporate Center in Dover to update officers on the talks.
Mr. Deal warned his members that whatever the final pay-raise plans end up being, the price tag will be significant. That means the officers will need to be vocal with their lawmakers to help them overcome any queasiness over the cost, which will be in the millions, he said.
"We are going to have to do whatever we can to make the legislators pass it because it will be a big chunk of change," Mr. Deal told about 200 members at COAD's morning meeting.
"We are going to have to work the hell out of Legislative Hall this year. It is going to take a lot of work.
"It is put up or shut up time. The only thing that scares me is if we go through all of this and then (legislators) shoot down our bills."
Mr. Deal said he will appoint four COAD members to draft a proposal to present to the state within the next month, which will contain specific amounts for pay raises, rules to implement the plan and other details.
The task force recommended a pay scale that rewarded service with longevity pay and an automatic promotion schedule, but did not recommend a specific amount of the pay hikes.
Under that system, officers receive small automatic increases with larger bumps for automatic promotions. For example, a hypothetical system would give correctional officers an automatic 1 percent raise every year.
Also, officers would be eligible for automatic promotions on a set schedule. For example, officers could get bumped a rank after the first year and another rank two years later as long as they met training requirements. The promotions would carry additional pay raises.
Moving correctional officers to a 25-year retirement plan also has several options.
Moving only correctional officers to the system from the state's current 30-year policy would cost the state less but could boost pension contributions by the officers by $75 a paycheck. Extending the ability to retire after 25 years to all state workers costs the state more but would barely increase the contribution for officers and other state workers.
The language in the state budget only calls for the state to examine ways to bolster recruiting and retention for correctional officer, but unions representing other workers in the prison system are talking with the state.
Michael J. McGee, president of Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 10, representing probation and parole officers, said his union and the union representing non-uniformed prison personnel, including counselors and other staff, will also present pay raise proposals to the Department of Correction.
Post comments on this issue at newsblog.info/0407 Staff writer Joe Rogalsky can be reached at 741-8226 or jrogalsky@newszap.com.
