Correctional Officer Association of Delaware

C.O.A.D.

Suite 202

19 South State Street

Dover, DE 19901

Office (302) 734-8061

Fax (302) 734-8062

Quarterly News Letter…

The First Quarter of 2003

Here it is history in the making, the first Quarterly COAD Newsletter. As you will observe in the pages enclosed, this is not just a compilation of the monthly updates. We wanted to get information from many sources to pass on to you. We are tapping the institutional Vice-Presidents as well as the Committees for information. We have heard many people talking about not receiving information; therefore, the monthly update began. This has not quelled our desire to have more information reach our membership. This is the second phase of the informational discourse. You, our fellow Officers, need the information dealing with your Union’s goals, plans and even the many victories we have already achieved. I would like to thank all of those people that submitted information to make this Newsletter possible. I do apologize for the sheer size of this newsletter - I wanted to get as much information out as possible. I realize that the enclosed Monthly Updates are the very same ones that are posted in the Institutions or handed out to the membership, but I wanted to guarantee that everyone received one.

A Letter from the President

My Fellow Officers:

Where to start always seems to be the hardest thing. First, I would like to extend our apologies for the lack of information flow. We are having a hard time getting volunteers for the newsletter. If anyone would like to help out with this project, it would be extremely helpful to us all. Please give us a call at the office.

It been an exciting time for all of us involved here. The meetings that are being constantly held with our legislators are becoming increasingly productive. For the first time that I know of, the Correctional Officers in this state have the undivided attention of our elected officials. Every meeting becomes increasingly productive. Eyes have been opened and voices are finally being heard. We are averaging three or more meetings a week with different legislators. Our Legislative Chairman, Kevin Rolph, has been a serious asset to our organization. Thank you Kevin and outstanding job!

Meetings and conversations with State Personnel Director Lisa Blunt-Bradley are a shear pleasure. She is genuinely concerned about our situation and seems to want to help. In case you do not understand why she is so important, she has the ability to reclassify our pay grades. In other words, bump us from pay grade 7 for starting officers to say pay grade 9. This is a new approach that none of our former unions have ever tried. Going trough Legislative Bills for a pay grade increase can easily be defeated, however, by going the route that we are going, any grade increases adopted by Ms. Blunt-Bradley are not open for negotiation. The money must be found by the Legislators, period. She has toured SCI to see what we do and a tour of DCC and Gander Hill is pending in the near future. We are meeting and talking with her on a frequent basis. A Task Force has been established by the Governor to research pay, retirement, and benefits, of which, COAD has the bulk of positions. Another win for us!

We are working hard for everyone. We need help. We need help with the newsletter, attending Legislative functions and fundraisers, and we need shop stewards. This Union can only be as strong as our weakest link, and our weakest link is the lack of involvement. If we had more unity instead of fighting, we would be able to achieve more. We need a turn out at union meetings. If you have no clue what has been going on within our union, come to a meeting. Representative Williams spoke at the last union meeting to just a handful of people. What kind of message do you think that sent? Not a very good one. We need people to come with us to Legislative Hall. Just the presence of a Correctional Officer in dress uniform sends a message. Every time we go into Legislative Hall, we send a message. “WE HAVE BEEN IGNORED AND OVERLOOKED LONG ENOUGH!” It would come across as a stronger message if there were more people with us. Are you interested? Call the office and ask about upcoming functions. We would be glad to have any other officers with us.

Lastly, I would like to touch on the internal fighting. It needs to stop. We are hurting ourselves when we bicker amongst each other. We are hearing about it in Legislative Hall and it has become a good source of laughter for the administration. It needs to end here and now. There are members from the old union still trying to de-certify us and break up COAD. I ask you this; does the name of the union make a difference? Does it matter if our union is called DCOA or COAD? It should not. If someone does not care for the way things are being done, voice it. If enough of the membership does not like the things that the E-board members are doing, there are provisions in the constitution to remove each and every officer. You do not destroy the entire organization when it can be changed instead. We know that there are still a few lurking about who want DCOA to represent the Correctional Officers in this state. I ask you, is the name that important? William Shakespeare said, “What’s in a name”. No Union, no matter what the name, is going to succeed if it does not have the help and support that it needs. Right now, we are lacking that help and support. We need it. We will never get anywhere in this state if we do not come together as one. There are almost 1600 members of this union, but we only see and hear from 5% of them. If anyone wants a pay raise, earlier retirement, or any other of the things we are trying so hard to get, they need to get involved. President John F. Kennedy said, “Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country”. The same goes for your union. Help us do what needs to be done.

Sincerely,

Allan J. Deal

President COAD

National Union of Law Enforcement Association

The National Union’s officers and staff wish to extend our prayers and thanks to the correctional officers of Delaware, who have gone off to war protecting our Great Nation.

Our message to the members is the following: We have worked very hard to ensure the quality of representation in grievances. To date all grievances are filled and appealed timely. Our success rate has remained above 80% settlements in favor of the employees.

Legislatively we have maintained a consistent presence at Legislative Hall with elected officials. Your priorities have been constantly worked on. A twenty-year retirement, upgrade in pay, E-Z pass and binding arbitration. The Legislative Chairman will up date you on our successes.

April 10^th of 2003 our Labor Management Committee meeting will be continuing on developing a realistic salary scale, pay for unused sick leave at retirement, and rewriting job specs and developing a true career ladder.

The National Union has provided an attorney to over see contract language and negotiation. The contract speaks of certain issues that have never been apart of Delaware Correctional Officers contracts. Sick slips needed after five (5) consecutive days, role call pay, and working out of classifications pay.

As a final comment to the officers, I wish to thank your elected officers, committee members, and officers whom came out to the hearing at Legislative Hall and Labor Management meetings. For the individuals whom are complaining about what is not being done. Check with the members we have represented or contact your legislator as to our presences, and ask them when they have offered to help on any issues on the department we are trying to correct and that answer should be favorable.

Thank you,

Thomas H. Ridgley

General Director

National Union of Law Enforcement Association

The Monthly Updates

The January Update…

On 15 January 03 COAD met with the State Personnel Director Lisa Blunt-Bradley – She has the power to review the current existing merit system pay scale and to make recommendations to change the pay grade of a classification. This was an extremely productive meeting and we were asked to meet again in February.

On 16 January 03 COAD met with Rep. Clifford “Biff” Lee (Chair of House Corrections Committee, Senate Majority Whip) COAD discussed pay, current merit system classification, Law enforcement recognition, retirement with a 20 or 25-year pension, a revision of corrections sick leave policy and many other bills to be reintroduced, which would benefit Corrections. This meeting proved to be a stepping-stone – We were asked to meet with Joseph DiPinto and Nancy Cook.

Contract negotiation reconvened on 22 January 03, The State and COAD both have their lead negotiation teams and have gained ground in coming to basic arraignments to allow the negotiation to run more smoothly. The Correctional Officer Association of Delaware and the State have both exchanged potential contact articles. COAD has taken the initiative to prepare a complete contract package to present to management and the State at the next scheduled management session. Unlike the States suggestion to streamline the contract and eliminate those sections that are covered by department policy ours is completely inclusive – if it is a working condition it should be on the table, as we have no control over department policy changes.

.

On 23 January 03, the Legislative Committee held a Legislative gathering. This was held at the Delaware State Troopers Association Headquarters outside Dover. Invitations were given to all the State Senators and representatives along with the Governor and State Personnel Director. The Invitation went out to all of the Wardens, Bureau Chiefs and the Commissioner. Over 28 Legislators RSVP’d stating, they would be there.

The February Update…

Vest Issues – 31 January 2003 – Employee Development Center

The request was brought up by COAD to issue all members a vest to be worn whenever a weapon was issued (link the vest with the weapons card). This was flatly denied by the administration. Their reasoning was that these vests might not be used by some officers and as such would be a waste. To paraphrase this statement – If it is not causing constant discomfort to the blue-shirts then they could not justify the expenditure. The State wanted to issue vests ONLY to those officers who were already signed up or had been signed up for Court and Transportation. This was thought to be a very bad idea because the State would then be able to determine who could do overtime. Once again, this is ONLY for ballistic vests – not stab proof (sorry stab resistant) vests. The Federal funding for the vests had allowed the State to purchase them without cost to the State initially but now requires the State to pay for the vests. Due to this recent revelation, The Union felt that the overwhelming requests by the body to get rid of these overweight and antiquated vests now took precedence.

State Personnel Director - 3 February 2003 – State Personnel Office - Dover

COAD met with the Lisa Blunt-Bradley for a second session. This meeting now also included Stan Taylor – Commissioner of the Department of Correction. In this meeting, the decision was reached to create a taskforce (the same as the State Police did) to work on each issue. There are three primary issues – Pay Grade, Retirement and Sick leave. There are other issues such as a department recruiter etc, but they are only secondary and will be addressed and brainstormed only after the principal issues are examined in detail. There is also a discrepancy between The State and Department's claimed attrition rate of 9% and that claimed by The Correctional Officer Association of Delaware of 51%. The State Personnel Director also wished to add a person from Nancy Cook’s (Chairman of the Joint Finance Committee) Office and we COAD suggested Clifford “Biff” Lee’s office thus to achieve a bi-partisan commission on the issues.

Joint Finance Committee Meeting - 12 February 2003 - 0900 - Legislative Hall

This meeting with Nancy Cook and Joe DePinto was attended by; J.R. Morris (VP COAD - WCF), Allan Deal (President - COAD), Kevin Rolph (Legislative Committee Chair) and Thomas Ridgley (Representative COAD) on behalf of the Correctional Officers Association of Delaware. There were two primary topics to this meeting. The first topic was a pay grade increase or a re-classification of the career field. No Money available was the main response of the committee but, as per Nancy Cook, if Lisa Blunt-Bradley (State Personnel Director) determines that there needs to be an increase in pay grade or classification then the Joint Finance Committee will approve her request and locate the money. The second topic addressed was an earlier retirement – less than 30 years. This initiated a general discussion ranging from the fact that we are different from all other State Employees to the statement that if the State gives us a 25 year retirement then they need to give it to every one else. This last statement was countered because we are willing to increase our pension contribution to offset the cost of a twenty-five year retirement. They responded that they would be willing to look at it, but it would depend on the numbers of employees affected. This is when we submitted the following numbers (as seen in the Graph in section 4) provided directly by The Department of Correction's Human Resources Department. This should also solidify our claim to the attrition rate.

Joint Finance Committee - 27 February 2003 - 1300 - Senate Chambers of Legislative Hall

After the Morning Union Meeting on February 27^th, Thomas Ridgley (NULEA) spoke to the Joint Finance Committee on our behalf. This dealt with a pay grade increase/reclassification and a twenty-five year retirement.

The March Update…

This, the third month of 2003, has been an extremely busy and complicated month. It has brought about many new changes in how the State and the Legislature view us as individual officers and as an organization. We have had tremendous representation and impact on the floor of the Joint Finance Committee (JFC). We have achieved an enormous amount of face-to-face time with our legislators. Doors into government, for the first time, are being opened to us. We have designed a complete contract that has been read, critiqued and edited by people that have done many contracts including an attorney with the ability to close the obscure loopholes. The following is an update for you, our fellow Correctional Employees and friends, on the current proceedings in The Correctional Officers Association of Delaware.

Joint Finance Committee - 27 February 2003 - Legislative Hall

It was stirring to see the turnout; over 40 Correctional Officers and even some "White Shirts" were at Legislative Hall. If you recall last month’s update, we informed you that the State had declared that there was a 9% attrition rate while the Correctional Officer Association of Delaware was stating a 51% rate according to the COAD Informational Packet. Commissioner, Stan Taylor, informed the Joint Finance Committee (JFC) that the attrition rate was only 6%, which is below the national average. The senators challenged this rate. Our Informational packet included the chart from The February Update on the years of service breakdown and the State’s totals for officers graduating the CEIT classes over the last 15 years. A specific section in the COAD Informational Packet showed that over the last five years, 1204 officers were hired and currently only 800 officers remain. This 33% attrition rate shows that there is a definite retention problem.

Ballistic Vest - 6 March 2003 - Employee Development Center

The stab resistant vests are out of the institutions. Ballistic vests are presently, to be worn by those that carry a firearm. Stan Taylor is awaiting an opinion from the Attorney General's office in regards to employees who carry firearms to not wear the ballistic vest.

Contract Negotiations - 6 March 2003 - DOC Education and Development Center (EDC)

This negotiation session was proceeded by many days and weeks of work by the Executive Board to create, compile and tweak a contract that was designed to be employee friendly. The Attorney, Kimberly Kline has come to help us from the National Union of Law Enforcement Associations. She has opened our collective eyes about some of the articles that we had in the contract. Now to give you a brief overview of our proposed contract articles:

1. Agreement - Who we are.

2. Purpose - The reason for the contract

3. Association Recognition - What job classifications are covered by the contract

4. Definition of Employees - A legal definition so the word employee will be set throughout the document

5. Association Security, Dues and Service Fees - Exactly who and when are the members covered

6. Association Officers and Representatives - How the Union is set up and your representation by officials

7. Probationary Period - How long (yes - we want 6 months)

8. Grievance Procedure - How and why grievances are used – allowing to be progressive

9. Special Rights of the Parties - institutional or system wide grievances (will be combined with #8)

10. Employee Rights - regarding any form of discipline i.e. progressive, time limits, suspensions etc.

11. Internal Affairs/ Investigative Interview Rights - a set of guidelines to protect the employee and provide representation

12. Labor Management Meetings - time frames and the range of what they can cover

13. Orientation of New Hires - when and where it shall be done

14. Visitation - access to institutions by union officials, their representatives and/or outside parties

15. Bulletin Board - location for union information inside the institution

16. Management Rights - right to manage operations and direct employees except where prohibited by the contract

17. Strikes and Work Stoppages - restating the law

18. Call Off/ Sick Leave - a positive reinforcement program including an incentive (monetary) program to not call off sick

19. Seniority - what is it and how it is accrued

20. Health and Welfare - health coverage, insurance and protection from infectious diseases

21. Part-Time Public Office - elected public officials

22. Working Conditions - staffing, state of emergency etc.

23. Institutional Designations - the name of each institution

24. Hours of Work - guide lines for shift times at each institution

25. Work Schedule - including VHR and E.D.C.O.'s

26. Safety - safe and healthy work environment for all employees

27. Overtime - The availability, distribution and calling

28. Personal Leave - 6 personal days - not counted as sick leave or annual leave

29. Vacation/ Holiday Preference and Schedule - Order of preference and how to assign

30. Transfer within an Institution (By Classification) - Posted, criteria of scoring and the grievance process

31. Transfer Outside An Institution (Lateral) - Application, criteria of scoring and the grievance process

32. Transfer Involving Career Ladder Positions - Filling, selection and the grievance process

33. Promotions - application, announcement, definition and rights

34. Performance Review - guidelines - timeframe and default

35. Personnel Records - number, access and security

36. Drug Testing - actual state procedure so no changes can be made without notification

37. Leave Bank And Leave Bank Donation Program - Change in how sick leave is donated

38. Equipment - what is issued and duration between replacement

39. Uniforms - what is issued, duration between replacement and forming committee to update uniform issues

40. Essential Employees - definition and guidelines

41. Testing – time off and travel time

42. Training – Notification and time off

43. Demotion – definition, guidelines and the grievance process

44. Shift Trades – what it is and how they work

45. Temporary Modified Work – alternative, light and reasonable accommodations

46. Employer Information Provision – Information from state to COAD

47. Contract Out – procedure and guidelines

48. Employee Reimbursement – Payment for unused sick leave – per year

49. Addendum to Merit Rules – Included language from Merit Rules

50. Flextime And Compressed Work Week Schedule – any changes will be mutually agreed upon

51. Report-In Procedures And Locations – When and where

52. Employee Facilities – Water, Restroom, Personal Property, Eating Areas and Rest Periods

53. Use of Premises by Association – requests being made shall not be unreasonably denied

54. Call Back Pay – payment for those called back in after work

55. Stand By Duty Pay – time frame and amount

56. Shift Differential Pay – incorporated shifts and amounts

57. Roll Call Pay – those required to arrive early – allowance for additional pay

58. Bilingual Pay – Those required or requested to use bilingual ability - allowance for additional pay

59. Acting Capacity Pay – extra pay for additional responsibility

60. Lead Worker – guidelines and additional pay

61. Layoffs, Job Abolishment’s, and Reduction in Work Force - protection

62. Retirement - Terminal leave concept

63. Bumping Rights – definition and guidelines

64. Liability Protection – protection of employee in law suites

65. NON-Discrimination – definition and coverage

66. Prohibition of Sexual Harassment - definition and coverage

67. Scope Wavier Alteration of Agreement – State and ratified by body – not single person or small group

68. Savings Clause – Stating that the Law supersedes the contract

69. Preservation of Provisions – guidelines for future creation of items not covered by merit rules or in the contract

70. Fully Bargained Provisions – no modification unless agreed by both parties

71. Duration of Agreement – Coverage time frame

NOTE: Any article or item that addresses pay may require legislative approval and/or budget funding.

State Wide Labor Management Committee - 14 March 2003

COAD Committee Members: J.R. Morris, Allan Deal and Thomas Ridgley (NULEA)

State Wide Labor Management Committee consisting of various State Agency Representatives, AFSCME and COAD approved the first set of changes to the merit rules and forwarded them for public hearing. The second set was tabled pending the next meeting of the committee however other subjects of importance were discussed such as:

1. Who are essential and non-essential employees were discussed in reference to snow emergency procedures and terrorist attacks.

2. Homeland Security consisting of policies and plans of action concerning terrorist threats or attacks including rumor control, fear factors, emergency and evacuation plans and employee communications were discussed.

3. Streamlining State procedures or policies that make the State run more cost efficient.

4. House Bill 81 - discussed the area of binding arbitration and mediation.

Legislative Committee - 19 March 2003

My fellow Officers;

        It is my pleasure to inform you of the latest developments in Legislative Hall on House Bill 81. Many of you remembered this Bill's introduction last year and were aware of the DCOA effort to kill the Bill in Committee. You were rightfully concerned and contacted me regarding this bill. After consultation with our E-Board, we decided to take a different approach. We decided to deal with this now, rather than have to face it again later. The reason is that the rest of this Bill IS in our favor. It further defines the binding arbitration process for negotiations and grievances. As I informed you at the last general meeting, I contacted Representative Bill Oberle, the sponsor of the Bill, and informed him of our concerns.

        At that time, Representative Oberle readily agreed to either amend or re-write the bill so as not to include Sergeants in the same bargaining unit as Lieutenants, Staff Lieutenants, Captains, and Majors. He assured me that this was a mistake when the Bill was written, and that it would be taken care of. 

        I spoke briefly with Representative Oberle in Legislative Hall on Tuesday as he was on his way to a meeting about the Smoking Bill. He informed me that he had just signed off on the Substitute Bill and that it would be introduced to the Labor Committee, which it was on the following day. He said at that time that he wanted me to tell all of you that he is "a man of his word, and when I give my word I stand by it." I thanked him for that, and we agreed to meet sometime in the near future to further get acquainted and discuss issues that pertain to Correctional Officers.

        I am very happy to see that he is indeed a man of his word.

        At this time, I would also like to thank all of you for your support. It means a lot to have that support when you are putting yourself "out there" on behalf of 1500+ people. The one thing I believe we must remember is that charting new ground takes time. This is not, and never should be, personal. This is business, and it affects the lives of those 1500+ people and their families. Please continue to support your elected and appointed officials. They are working hard to support you.

        I believe that we have made great strides in Legislative Hall, and I speak for the rest of my Committee when I say that we look forward to representing you further. If you have any questions or concerns, please call the office at (302) 734-8061 and leave a message for me with our office assistant, Brandy. I check in with her daily, and I will contact you to address your concern.

Further Strides Accomplished by our Legislative Committee this month includes the following amendment to House Bill 42. This will provide a 25 year retirement if it passes.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
142nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY
HOUSE BILL NO. 42

AN ACT TO AMEND TITLE 29 OF THE DELAWARE CODE RELATING TO THE STATE EMPLOYEES PENSION PLAN.
BE IT ENACTED BY THE GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF DELAWARE:

Section 1. Amend § 5501, Title 29, Delaware Code by adding a new definition "(j)" to read as follows:

"(j) Law enforcement officer means an officer employed by a State law
enforcement agency listed in § 1911 of Title 11, Delaware Code, or a
probation and parole officer employed by the Department of Correction.".

Section 2. Amend § 5522(a), Title 29, Delaware Code by striking the word
"or" at the end of paragraph (3), by striking the period at the end of
paragraph (4) and inserting in lieu thereof "; or" and by adding a new
paragraph "(5)" to read as follows:

"(5) The employee has twenty-five years of credited service and is a law
enforcement officer.".

Section 3. Amend § 5522, Title 29, Delaware Code by adding a new
Subsection (e) to read as follows:

"(e) The amount of the service pension payable to an employee who
becomes eligible to receive a service pension pursuant to Subparagraph
(5) of Subsection (a) of this Section shall not be reduced, regardless
of the age of the employee.".

SYNOPSIS

This Bill permits law enforcement officers and probation and parole officers to retire after 25 years of service without penalty.

Now, look at how the amendment would change.

HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
142nd GENERAL ASSEMBLY
HOUSE AMENDMENT NO. 1

TO

HOUSE BILL NO. 42

AMEND House Bill No. 42 by striking lines 2 through 4 in their entirety and substituting in lieu thereof the following:

"(j) 'Law enforcement officer' means an officer employed by a State law
enforcement agency listed in §1911 of Title 11, Delaware Code, or an
officer employed by the Department of Corrections.".

SYNOPSIS

This Amendment defines "law enforcement officer" to include an officer employed by the Department of Corrections.

Now, take a close look at what line j stated above in the original bill. It makes the 25 year retirement exclusive to just probation and parole. Now, take a close look at what the House Amendment number 1 would change it too. It says an officer employed by the Department of Corrections. Our union approached House Speaker Terry Spence, who is a co-sponsor of this bill, with a request to amend it. Speaker Spence readily agreed and the amendment above is the result.

Kevin Rolph

Legislative Committee Chairman 

"State of the Prisons Address" - 20 March 2003 - Legislative Hall

Attended by: Thomas Ridgley, Bill Wharton, David Knight, Kevin Rolph, Robert Heishman,

Frank Steiner and Judy Steiner

Commissioner Stan Taylor, along with State representatives and a number of various committee members held what the Commissioner called the State of the Prisons Address. This consisted of a great deal of information. This information pertained to the costs accrued in running the Correction system. He quoted national as well as local numbers for example out of the 2 million incarcerated nation-wide Delaware is the tenth (per capita) with 6,747 incarcerated. Delaware is first (per capita) in executions - 13 since 1992 and 13 are presently on Death Row. On a different note, he informed everyone that the Department of Correction is running 160 over post construction capacity and this number is 1900 over the original post construction design.

The Commissioner informed the Board that the bids for construction of the "Female Treatment Center" had come in under the pre-defined ceiling and so the construction will start in the near future. This facility will provide 100 Level 4 female beds on the grounds of Baylor Women's Correction Institution (BWCI).

COAD Interests were being advanced through the following political fundraiser:

Fundraiser Attended - 20 March 2003 - (D) Representative Dennis P. Williams - District 1

Attended By: Thomas Ridgley, William Wharton, Kevin Rolph and David Knight

This fundraiser allowed us time to talk with the legislators on a one on one basis. The issues that involve us the most that were discussed were: retirement, pay/classification, hiring, recruiting, retention and these were just to name a few. Some of the lawmakers that spent extra time with us were:

1. Representative Dennis Williams (D) spoke to us at length for over an hour, and committed himself to our cause. He wishes to speak with our Body at the General Meeting at 18:30 on March 27th.

2. Senate Majority Leader Harris B. McDowell III (D) District 1 was very interested and concerned with what we had to say and allowed us to bend his ear for nearly 45 minutes.

3. Representative Helene M. Keeley (D) District 3 who was present at the "State of the Prisons Address" came up to us and spoke with us about many issues.

We will follow up with these lawmakers over the next few days and weeks. We will also contact many more that stopped by and introduced themselves to us.

Employee Retention

The Delaware Department of Correction has a problem attracting, hiring, training and keeping quality-qualified personnel. From 1998 to November 2002, the Department of Correction hired 1204 officers to fill what was originally an estimated 400 positions. At the present time, the department still has to fill over 100 positions. This attrition rate is currently running at an overall 51% since 1998. These figures were compiled from the date of hire as well as the time spent in the academy. This also includes the yearly estimated attrition rate that is currently running at 7%. Currently we have 800 officers at 0 to 5 years experience. The number drops to 307 for 5 to 10 years experience. From 20 to 30 years experience there are less then 160 officers out of a total of 1576. Out of these only, 7 have over 30 years and are ready to retire. At the present time, the Department is not able to hold on to its core of experienced Officers.

Out of 1576 Correctional Officers the percentage breakdown is as thus:

51% have less than five years of service.

19% have five and ten years,

11% have ten to fifteen,

9% have fifteen to twenty,

8% have twenty to twenty-five,

2% have twenty-five to thirty and less then

1% has over thirty years.

The source for these figures is the Administration for the Delaware Department of Corrections.

Legislative Chairman's Report

To my fellow Officers:

Greetings! This month has been an extremely busy one for the committee. As President Deal said in his opening remarks, "Where to start always seems to be the hardest thing.”

I will begin by saying thank you to the committee members and members of the body that have taken the time to assist me in the efforts in Legislative Hall. There have been way too many of you to list here; however, I would like to extend my thanks at this time. There is no possible way that we would be where we are at this time without the support of everyone involved. To this end, I would like to extend an invitation to each and every member of the body: If there is anyone who would like to discuss an idea for legislation, please call the office. There is an answering machine and an office assistant. Leave a message and I will return your call. I call in daily to get my messages. Also, if any of you would like to accompany me to Legislative Hall sometime please contact me through the office. This would be an excellent way of "putting a face on the title of Correctional Officer".

I will also be extending an invitation to several Legislators over the next few months to speak to the body at our general meetings. Speaker of the House Terry Spence has accepted the invitation to speak at our meeting on May 29th. This will be an opportunity for Officers to meet Mr. Spence and speak with him. I would strongly encourage each of you to do so. Mr. Spence has been there for us from the beginning, and he genuinely wants to hear your concerns. I would like to personally thank him for his time and efforts on our behalf. He has put a considerable amount of both into our cause and we have benefited from it.

With that said let me update you on the progress so far:

HB81: As many of you know, this was a major area of concern for me over the past 6 weeks. AFSCME lawyers in Washington, DC originally drafted the bill. They included Sergeants in with the Correctional Supervisors section of the bill. This would have pulled the Sergeants out of our union. After contacting Representative Bill Oberle, the sponsor of the bill, I approached the body at the February meeting and asked if they wanted to request an amendment or a re-write of the bill to correct this. At that time, the body informed me of their wishes for a re-write. I again spoke with Representative Oberle and he agreed to re-write the bill to remove the Sergeants from the Supervisors section. This was introduced to the House Labor Committee as HS1 for HB81. I am happy to report that this substitute bill has cleared the Labor Committee by a vote of 6-0 on it's merits and is currently in the House Appropriations Committee where it's fiscal note is being reviewed.

HB73: Commonly known as the "Anti-Retaliation Bill", this bill reads as follows:

"Since it's beginning, the Legislative Committee on Personnel Practices has received a large number of complaints in which retaliation against a State Employer was involved, either as a party of the original complaint, or as "punishment" against an employee for doing what the employee had a right to do. Because such complaints to the committee appear to have grown in number and severity, this act sets forth an expedited procedure for the processing of a retaliation complaint". I am happy to report that this bill cleared the House Labor Committee by a vote of 6-0 on its merits and is currently scheduled to be voted on by the full House on Tuesday, April 8.

HB42: The original version of this bill reads as follows: "This bill permits law enforcement officers and probation and parole officers to retire after 25 years of service without penalty". When you read the original bill further, it excluded Correctional Officers. We approached Representatives Oberle and Spence again to ask that they amend the bill to include Correctional Officers. Language was submitted to them at the request of Representative Spence and it is currently placed with the bill as an amendment. The bill and amendment cleared the House Labor Committee by a vote of 5 on its merits, 1 favorable and 0 unfavorable, and currently is in the House Appropriations Committee where its fiscal note is being reviewed.

HB55: This bill would provide for a program of long-term health care for State Employees and officials. Anyone who desired such coverage would have to pay all costs, etc., however, it would be at drastically reduced prices due to group rates and the number of individuals employed by the State. It is currently in the House Labor Committee. An important point to remember here is that while there is currently no money available for the State to supplement the plan with that could change in the future. In other words, your premiums could go down. Right now, we have no long-term healthcare. We are therefore supporting this bill as an option to the current situation.

I hope that this brings you up to date on our efforts as much as is possible right now. There are currently other items being worked on, which I will include in future monthly reports, in meetings, and in notices on the web sites as they occur. Above all, I would stress two things: patience and support of your e-board. The problems that face this Department and its Officers were not created overnight and will not be solved overnight. We are working at no cost to the Union for the benefit of all of us. In time, it will become apparent that this is for the benefit of both the Department and the Officers, in terms of daily working conditions and the ability to attract, hire, train and keep quality, qualified personnel.

As I have stated above, if there are any questions please feel free to contact me at the office. I look forward to hearing from you. As always, look out for each other and go home the way you came in.

Kevin Rolph

Legislative Committee Chair

DCC Trustee

COAD Website News

To my fellow officers,

First I would like to just say that I personally am very proud of C.O.A.D. and all the work that has been taken place over the past year. Second, I would like to remind everyone that good things are happening and to please just remain patient and stay together.

I would like to talk a little bit about the C.O.A.D. website.  I have been the designer of this website now for over 2 years.  I was the original designer for it when we were with DCOA and I continued with C.O.A.D. My goal with the website is to keep officers informed, provide important as well as interesting links, to provide the ability for members to contact staff members and get their questions answered, and to also show the public that we do more than just watch inmates. I have a large collection now on not only C.O.A.D. history but our history prior.  I keep news articles that pertain to corrections or affect correctional officers in any way.  I also have a links page that not only gives officers important links, but also informative and general links.  I also have a staff page with email addresses to those members who wish to have given me their email address, so if you want to contact a staff member you can.  I also have a section on there that is for any member doing community service.  It does not matter if you are a volunteer fireman, National Guard, Reservist, coach little league, or work in your local community.  If you are doing something that reflects well on correctional officers, I would really like to have it displayed.  This shows the public that we do more than just watch inmates; we care also for the public.

Now with that said, I would like to reflect on some of the positive things that I have seen happen since COAD came into existence.
The first thing that was accomplished was the removal of the vest for most correctional officers.  Most officers know that the vest were not only uncomfortable but also a health risk.  Second, we have influenced our legislators to evaluate the possibility of a pay grade reclassification. The study is being done at this time, and will probably take a good deal of time. Third, House Bill 81.  Thanks to our legislative committee and the close work with Representative Oberle and our legislators, we were able to get this bill rewritten and we can be happy to know that our Sgt's will remain with our union. Now these are three major accomplishments, and I don't know about you, but I think that is pretty darn good for not even a full year yet. We are still working on many growing pains.  As you can see, you are getting a newsletter.  We have legislators on our side to lower the retirement to 25 years.  In fact, House Speaker Terry Spence has drafted an amendment to House Bill 42 to have us included for the 25-year retirement. Nevertheless, more needs to be done.  We need people to step up to the plate and help. In time though, I see C.O.A.D. as a very positive influence and leading the way not only for Correctional Officers but also for the entire Department of Corrections. I also have available on the website a newsletter. This is sent out via email. As I get late breaking news, I pass it along to those who sign up. Please visit the official C.O.A.D. website at http://www.truetoblue.org also please take note to those who have heard a very nasty rumor that COAD's website was shut down, it is not true.  As you can see the website is up, alive, and doing well.  In addition, we are still winning awards I would like to add. Remember there are two types of people in life, the positive and the negative.  The positive person and the negative person both have a major difference and one thing in common.  What the positive person and negative person have in difference is, the positive person looks for the positive things in life and the negative person looks for the negative things in life.  What the positive person and negative person both have in common is, they both find what they are looking for. So, which are you?

Thank you,
Cpl. Robert Heishman
SCI C Shift
cplheishman@netscape.net

Letters from the Institutional Vice-Presidents