BANGOR, Maine — Unionized employees of Penobscot County Jail issued a statement Thursday announcing that they have rejected what they called a “substandard contract offer” from the county and now plan to file for arbitration with the Maine Labor Relations Board.
The workers, members of the corrections line unit of American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees Local 1828, said they have exhausted every effort, including use of a state mediator, to reach a fair and equitable contract agreement with the county.
In their news release, union members said that both sides agreed to use a three-person fact-finding panel which issued an eight-page report after two full days of hearings and that subsequent negotiations around the fact-finding panel’s report failed to yield a fair offer from management.
The latest contract offer was rejected unanimously by union members, they said.
On Thursday, Tom Davis, chairman of the Penobscot County commissioners, said that the county’s contract offer called for a 2 percent pay increase over two years but that this might no longer be possible.
In contrast, state employees, he noted, haven’t had raises in four years.
The offer of a pay increase may be rescinded because the Department of Corrections has mandated that county jails reduce their operating budgets by 1 percent after several years of flat funding despite increases in such areas as fuel and prisoner transportation.
“It’s almost an impossible feat and the only way to do that is lay people off and we’ve tried to avoid that,” he said. “There is no more juice to squeeze.
“We’ve been fair but frugal. We’ve always been reasonable and I like to say we’ve earned a reputation for being fair. We’re trying to keep people working but we can’t give large pay raises,” he said.
Davis said Thursday he was somewhat taken aback by the union’s decision to issue a news release about the contract impasse.
“The commissioners have never negotiated — and never will negotiate — a contract in the press,” he said. “We don’t do that.”
Union leaders said that issues in dispute include proposed changes in health insurance coverage and the retroactive date of proposed pay increases for workers, who have not seen a negotiated pay increase since before their prior three-year contract expired in 2010.
They said, however, that the biggest sticking point between union and management is the “ongoing and growing use of part-time workers as a means of wrongfully denying current full-time workers access to sufficient work hours.”
Davis said that was not the case. He said all full-time employees are scheduled to work at least 42 hours a week. He also said that the county continued to provide step increases, though it wasn’t obligated to after the prior contract expired.
“They’re kicking because they’re not getting overtime,” Davis said. He said that the idea of using part-time workers was to reduce staffing costs while providing training to employees who one day might be hired full time.
Davis further said that while full-time employees do work some overtime hours, the concern is that too many hours — such as the 50- to 60-hour workweeks that once were the norm — pose safety problems.
Union leaders also alleged that part-time workers were not allowed to join the union despite the fact that they have signed documents indicating their desire to be part of the collective bargaining unit. A separate charge on this matter is being filed with the Maine Labor Relations Board.
Davis and Sheriff Glenn Ross said Thursday that existing contract language does not allow for that. Only full-time employees are eligible to join the union.
AFSCME Local 1828 represents 42 employees of the Penobscot County Jail in Bangor. Besides county corrections officers and clerical workers, membership includes cooks, transport officers and a public works officer.
Unions on the discontented rise, playing right in step with the pied piper liberals’ refusal to cut spending, etc. Chaos in the country is the theme for this election year!
Not only have I not had a raise or bonus in the last 4 years, I took a $12,000 pay cut! But I am happy just to still have a job!
What risk go along with your job can you be killed at any second on your job ??
Put them on the streets, bust the union and get some people in there who want to work!
1maineguide, We want to work, We do Work, We do not want to be mistreated by our own.
an watch the turn over could you stand all the abuse for the inmates you would be a basket case there
People at the jail are more than happy to have jobs during these tough times, what people who do not work there do not understand is the way the county’s Negotiation team has handled them selves during these negotiations. The workers in this unit have had there health insurance raised only because we would not sign a contract. And this happened early on in the negotiations.
Not only have state employees not seen a raise, they have had to take furlough days and pay more for their insurance which have reduced their pay.
So, let me get this straight, the workers at the jails, who from what I’ve seen, are slow, lazy, and completely disrespectful to anyone there, no matter what the violation, expect to get a raise for sitting on their butts? They should be happy they have a job in this current economy. How are unions still legal in an at-will state?
Let em all go, and hire a new crew.
Whats the matter Chris Boone….did you get too many Major write ups or something? Did you spend a little too much time locked up? did PC not treat you well? You couldn’t be a Correctional Officer (and not because you have a criminal record either) most likely because you may not have the thinking capacity to handle the stress of the job. There is more to what Correctional Officers do than what inmate’s get to see but you wouldn’t know that because when you are in jail you don’t get to see anything because you’re locked in a block. Intake, Booking, Control, Transports, Use’s of Force, etc… you couldn’t handle it. Life is easy for you when you play spades all day and gamble away your commissary. You should keep quiet unless you know what you’re talking about….and in this case…you don’t
What’s the matter Chris Boone….did you get too many write
ups or something? Did you spend a little too much time locked up? did PC not
treat you well? You couldn’t be a Correctional Officer (and not because you
have a criminal record either) most likely because you may not have the
thinking capacity to handle the stress of the job. There is more to what
Correctional Officers do than what inmate’s get to see, but you wouldn’t know
that because when you are in jail you don’t get to see anything because you’re
locked in a block. Intake, Booking, Control, Transports, Uses of Force, etc… You
couldn’t handle it. Life is easy for you when you play spades all day and
gamble away your commissary. You should keep quiet unless you know what you’re
talking about….and in this case…you don’t
Wages are in stagnation. Courageous action like this union is what moves the needle a slight bit for all of us who work and collect paychecks, whether in a union or not.
Workers don’t get regular raises anymore even though productivity continues to rise. American workers are the most productive in the world and only the 27th best paid. We need to send a message to the CEOs who are siphoning off more and more that we demand a share of the pie.
Whats the matter Chris Boone….did you get too many Major write ups or something? Did you spend a little too much time locked up? did PC not treat you well? You couldn’t be a Correctional Officer (and not because you have a criminal record either) most likely because you may not have the thinking capacity to handle the stress of the job. There is more to what Correctional Officers do than what inmate’s get to see but you wouldn’t know that because when you are in jail you don’t get to see anything because you’re locked in a block. Intake, Booking, Control, Transports, Use’s of Force, etc… you couldn’t handle it. Life is easy for you when you play spades all day and gamble away your commissary. You should keep quiet unless you know what you’re talking about….and in this case…you don’t
It appears to me that Davis and the sheriff do not want to tell the whole truth here. My understanding is that the old contract applies until a new one is signed and him going to the officers and threatening them the other day with taking their step raises away within six months if they do not sign is not allowed, but this is how he treats his workers.
The raises that the correction officers have received have not even been enough to cover the rise in insurance rates. Due to the fact they did not sign the first contract offered the sherrif increased the insurance rates astronomically to punish the workers. My question is why with gas prices so high is the sheriff and the deputies allowed to use the counties vehicles for personal use? I saw the sheriff and his wife the other weekend headed out of the county for a trip, this should not be allowed? Wouldn’t this save a lot of money? BDN has the Sheriff or the Commisioners received a raise within the past few years? At this point he is now threatening to cut the corporol positions. Many times they don’t even get paid the overtime they work. Tell me how an hourly paid employees pay check can be the exact same amount to the penny every week. When is he going to stop abusing his workers?
Well said MSC!!!!!!!! I wonder if the other counties are going to cut officers, probably not the other sheriffs support there people
Mr. Davis “Do you know who I am?”. Workers should be treated fair. The truth of the matter is not everyone is treated fair depending on who you are. I do not personal know Mr. Ross but I no Mr. Davis can use his position for his own purposes . I am not saying he is not a nice guy.