The state’s standoff with the prison guards union shines a light on how the state’s public employee unions brazenly abuse taxpayers. The California Correctional Peace Officers’ Association (CCPOA) owes the state $4 million for “union paid leave” (time spent on union business – arm twisting politicians for bigger raises), a tab dating back to 2005.
The CCPOA is abusing a contractual arrangement where taxpayers directly pay for its union business until such time as the union feels like paying the state back. That the union can act with seeming impunity is likely due to the immense political power it gained under Pete Wilson.
The prison guards union spent $1.57 million backing Pete Wilson for governor and additional millions backing Three Strikes (in partnership with Wilson). In turn, the guards gained steep salary increases (with 1 in 10 prison guards now making $100,000 or more per year) and immense political power.
Now that Wilson is Meg Whitman’s campaign chairman, one wonders whether Whitman will be willing to stand up against the state’s overpowerful unions. Interestingly, Whitman is the only statewide GOP candidate that hasn’t endorsed the Citizen Power Initiative to reign in the public employee unions.
Doesn’t Arnold want to ship a lot of prisoners to Mexico after we build prisons over there, and that doing so would be far cheaper than our current situation? I’m all for it, if it gets half these guys a pink slip.
You conveniently neglect to tell people that a good chunk of that $100,000 is in INVOLUNTARY overtime. When was the last time you were forced to work a 16 hour shift on Christmas Eve?
You are an arrogant self-rightous jerkoff and a teller of half-truths.
Have a nice day.
Exactly, that money is fit overtime, we are understaffed and those positions need to be filled. Most of them are medical positions for inmate healthcare, transportations, and trips to the hospitals for CT scans and MRI’s which are Federally mandated, but not Federally funded. If you dint walk the line you need not comment on what goes on inside, cause you are obviously just assuming what goes on. People need to quit looking at OUR salaries, and more at what these psychs, doctors, and all these other inmate healtchare positions get paid. All the money goes to inmate healthcare, which is free for them. They don’t pay for shit. Dialasys, transplants, ambulance rides, sex hormones, surgeries, physical therapy, etc. All free. They come to prison for this stuff and don’t pay a dime. What would you pay on the street for this stuff? Please, get your info correct. Arnold would rather take money from us, than the inmate, who legally steals it from the taxpayers through all the free services they get in prison.
Most prison guards earn more than $70,000 in base pay, not including overtime or benefits.
CCPOA members take advantage of sick leave and overtime rules – sick leave, incredibly, counts as time worked in calculating overtime – to get an average of $16,000 a year in overtime pay. Last year, this cost the state $471 million in overtime costs (up from $53 million a decade ago), a big contributor to the state’s deficit.
The corrections budget has gone from 4.3 percent of the state’s general fund in 1985-86 to 11.2 percent today.
The CCPOA also has been unwilling to do major rethinking of the 2001-2006 contract. The state and the CCPOA reached impasse on a new contract last September. The union has refused formal negotiations since then.
http://www.cjcj.org/post/alternatives/incarceration/modest/proposal/prison/costs/reign/overtime/0
Have a super terrific day!
Correctional peace officers are the most professional members of law enforcement around. Their job is the most dangerous, as well as challenging.
The former “Guards” who use to run the system are extinct. Peace officers that run the prison system now are highly trained, as well as ethical.
They are some of the highest paid peace officers out there as a result.
The author of this blog, is either very jealous of CDCR’s peace officers, or dislikes them because the author is a parolee. You decide.
CCPOA is a great organization, that has a lot of power, but has earned that power, and uses it to benefit it’s members. So bad mouth them all you like with your 3 hit a day newbie blog. CCPOA remains a powerful force that will only get stronger.
Rogue elephant, if you can tell me where that 16k is at, let me know, cause I am missing it on my paycheck. I could surely use it to pay my bills, so please tell me where it is. Like I said, if you don’t walk the line or know how it works, then don’t comment, cause you are obviously very misinformed.
“Where is that 16K”? Where is that $4 million that the CCPOA (“the most professional law enforcement around”) owe the taxpayers and haven’t paid since 2005?
It’s time for taxpayers to show the CCPOA who’s boss. The CCPOA works for the taxpayers. Not the other way around.
When I was working on Three-Strikes Reform a measure that would have saved the state nearly a billion a year in costs, I was told by a supportive Democrat after extensive questioning to maje sure we were not plants from the CCPOA, that noting happens in this building if the CCPOA opposes it and most of what they want they get.
I understand the Guard who has been commenting frustration with the overcrowding and the use of the medical care available inside. On the medical care issue, perhaps since there is no real care except for the ER available to many people here and across the county, one who is really sick might be tempted to commit a crime just to get the care they need to live.
The overcrowding is in a large part directly linked to the laws the CCPOA has backed to increase time for all types of crimes committed, with the assumption that fear of criminals would keep the funding coming to support more and more prisons and more guards. Add that to the elimination of programs to retrain personn who get in trouble, lack of funding for addiction problems, lack of funding for mental health, lack of access for many poor individuals to medical care and strict enforsement of drug laws that only serve to make dealers more money.
CCPOA is a great organization, that has a lot of power, but has earned that power, and uses it to benefit it’s members. So bad mouth them all you like with your 3 hit a day newbie blog. CCPOA remains a powerful force that will only get stronger.
I do not agree that the CCPOA is a great organization at this time, they could lead the way by some accepting some pay cuts and supporting chages to reduce the number of inmates especially those who have only committed non-violent actions, but since we live in an age of blantent self-intrest only even if we all end up losing in the end.
Will this union continue to get stronger, unless we act with the help of the other unions in the state who are paying with the loss of funding and jobs in there areas and an alliance across the political spectrum to make change to our judicail and prison systems then this union will continue to be the most powerful lobby in the styate capitol at the expence of every other area, education, Health Care, Seniors, you name it nothing will be off the table to protect the CCPOA’s interests.
While I do not support overzealous and bully unions, I am hard pressed to think $70,000 a year is too much for a job most people couldn’t or wouldn’t do. I say to you Roque Elephant, go spend a month in the jails working alongside the deputies. After you have done that, let me know if you would like to have inmates as your housemates. You will gain a different perspective.
Rouge Elephant,I spent 20 years behind the walls and I can tell you If these I/Ms lived next door to you, I think you would have a different perspective.It’s as simple as this,Either car theft, robbery, burglary, murder, wife beating, arson, ETC, ETC,are not crimes that require these perpetrators to be incarcerated, then you need to have the laws changed and let the criminals commit these crimes with impunity.If you think these people are not dangerous why don’t you offer to house some paroles at your home? Also, I would bet that If you Ask, some nearby “GUARD” would gladly give you a tour(if you don’t have a record) so you can see first hand why they earn a decent living doing what most people would never consider,Especially for 20 or 25 years.
Yet, these unions have plenty of cash available available to throw $500K to support Phil Angelides for governor – in return for what? And $500K to throw at (unsuccessfully) defeating Prop 11 (redistricting). Sounds like the CCPOA and its members have plenty of cash that they don’t mind throwing around to abuse taxpayers.
How about this? CCPOA – pay us the $4 million you owe us, then tell us your hard luck stories.
I agree,the people who commit violent crimes should be kept in prison. But there cannot be a single focus on only prison, prevention is much cheaper.
A guard’s job is tough and has been made toughter, by the policies supported by the Union that is suppost to have thier interest at heart.Supporting policies that increase sentences for non-violent criminals who would possibly benifit from other punishment and treatments contributes to the severe overcrowding and decreases safety for the guards who actually have to do the job.
Why are guards worth more that most teachers? I understand the job is dangerious, but they do not have to go to 4-8 years of college for it or pay back that loan for school.
In is time for the members to set up and elect new leadership for their union, a leadership that will work with all Californians to implement polices that make the public safer at lower cost and work with our people to lower costs. The time for promoting polices that only serve to increase the number of prisons and guards needed must come to an end, we simply cannot afford it.
Putting non-violent criminal and those with treatable conditions into overcrowded, crimial training centers that have no progams to prepare those who will be released for life outside. The current policies only create better trained criminals and more dangerious conditions both on our streets, this puts lives in danger both for the guards and the people of California.
Our current polices result in one of the worst re-offender rate in the country, if not the world. Perhaps we could actually learn something from other places if we could pull our heads out of the sand and look around
Rogue, I asked you first, where in my paycheck is that $16K you are talking about. It is obvious you are throwing numbers out there just to hook someone who is misinformed to follow you posts. Before you start posting nonsense numbers you need to provide some legit links, documentation, References, ect. Before you throw your shit out there. I doubt anyone is going to take your nonsense seriously, without any facts. Obviusly you work for that Nazi of a Governor, or you are an ex con/parolee badmouthing a union you obviously know nothing about.
Nazi? Parolee? Wierd stuff…
Rogue Elephant is right. These issues need to be discussed. The CCPOA has tipped and even broken the scales that used to measure balance in government. One thing that is concerning to me as a voter and taxpayer is the message these union-bosses send every time they attack a political candidate. The Union drops hundreds of thousands of dollars in ugly attack ads to defeat anyone who stands between them and our money. They spent over 7.2 million in political contributions in 2009 …and these guys owe us money! They are stiffing the state on 4 million dollars and yet the state continues to allow them to spend millions in PAC money. Certainly there are some conflicts here? The CCPOA only supports candidates they can control. We should vote for the ones they attack!