NORRISTOWN Some days at the Montgomery County Correctional
Facility, officers there say, there are so few guards that only one is
available to patrol the general population area for male inmates.
There are so few, they say, they sometimes can't take
bathroom breaks and have to relieve themselves in garbage cans.
That personnel shortage accompanies more traditional
workplace complaints from some of the county's 235 correctional officers - too
little pay and shrinking benefits.
With those concerns in the background, Montgomery County
correctional officers will vote soon on whether to allow the Teamsters to
represent them in contract negotiations.
Montgomery County solicitor Ray McGarry said Friday that he
could not comment "on any issue that could be seen as an issue related to
the vote."
The vote, scheduled for Dec. 16, can't come too soon for
some guards.
"The correctional officers are in desperate need of
representation," said Chris O'Donnell, an organizer with Teamsters Local
Union 384. "Working conditions are getting worse by the day."
The Montgomery County Correctional Facility is in Lower
Providence Township on Eagleville Road. As of Friday, it housed 2,021 inmates -
340 women and 1,681 men, most of them awaiting trial or sentenced for less
serious crimes. Capacity is 2,080.
O'Donnell said that some correctional officers had contacted
him several months ago to ask about joining the Teamsters.
"This thing has morphed itself into a very, very quick
union drive," O'Donnell said. "They've been losing entitlements
they've had for years - whether it's because of the economy or because they
don't have a union."
Only 13 percent of the county's 3,533-member workforce is
represented in negotiations by a union, county spokeswoman Jessica Willingham
said.
Among those who belong to unions are deputy sheriffs,
probation officers, detectives, and the juvenile detention facility's
equivalent of guards.
Several guards who described the conditions spoke with The
Inquirer on the condition they not be named, because they said they feared
backlash from management.
"Supervisors will actually say to officers, 'Are you
yes or no to union?' " said one guard. "Nobody wants to speak up
because they know that'll put a bull's-eye on our back."
Warden Julio M. Algarin was unavailable for comment.
O'Donnell and the guards contend that county commissioners
historically have given fewer incentives to correctional officers, paying more
attention to workers represented by unions in contract negotiations.
Salaries suggest a discrepancy among county public-safety
workers.
The entry-level salary for a correctional officer is about
$36,500, one said.
The starting pay for a Youth Center "secure detention
counselor" and "family advocates" is $40,610, according to the
county. Entry-level adult and juvenile probation officers make $40,783, while
the similar pay for county detectives just starting out is $75,966.
That higher pay, McGarry said, is due to different skills
and training detectives need. Deputy sheriffs start at $35,544.
Correctional officers said that, even though county
commissioners gave them a raise toward the end of 2012 of about 2 percent -
their first increase in years - they also lost three paid holidays, had sick
time reduced, and have to pay more for health-care premiums.
But the biggest issue is a lack of officers to properly
handle the prison population. "Dealing with the convicts," one guard
said, "we're short probably at least 20 people or so."
In addition to roaming correctional officers, there also are
guards in control rooms monitoring cameras and hallways.
Inmates get three meal breaks per day, guards said, but
guards sometimes don't get even one over a shift that could last 12 hours.
O'Donnell said the drive for unionization wasn't personal
against anyone. "Guards are suffering," he said. "They want to
have somebody have their back."
Source: Philly.com
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