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<< Senate: Corruption in Govt-Medical Dealings | Main | One Reason to Like Kerry >> January 23, 2004Why Prison Guard Union Might Take Pay CutOkay, if you know anything about California, you know that the state correctional officer union is a heavy-duty political player. So why are they discussing pay cuts with Governor Arnold? Part of the answer may be fear of worse results if Schwarzenneger goes after the whole prison system, maybe slashing jobs as minor prisoners are released, as has been discussed. But there's a tidbit in the above link that has a more sinister tradeoff implied. The prison guard union is demanding cuts in "waste" as a condition of their accepting pay cuts. Reducing excess middle management, cutting back executive perks-- all sounds good. But then this: Union members will be hard-pressed to agree to salary reductions if they see corrections officials continue to spend heavily on management perks and lawyers for internal-affairs investigations, [union spokesman] Corcoran said.i.e. Stop investigating abuse against prisoners by guards and maybe we'll discuss helping you on the budget. A nasty proposed quid pro quo that progressives should keep alert to. Posted by Nathan at January 23, 2004 12:35 PM Related posts:
Trackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry: CommentsAh yes, the old "You are a convict, whatever happens to you in prison you deserve" justification. Posted by: j Swift at January 23, 2004 01:59 PM The prison guards are like a parody of an old-fashioned, AFL "if it's good for our members we're for it" union. Zero class-consciousness, exactly the kind of special interest racket the right wing accuses Labor of being. If Bush wins and they open detention camps for political prisoners and other "undesireables," you can bet that they'll insist that their members get the jobs ("Well, SOMEONE'S gonna guard the political prisoners, it might as well be us"). Posted by: Nick at January 23, 2004 03:24 PM It's a neat test whether it's politics as usual with Arnie (Davis's quid pro quo with the union becomes ever more apparent). The CCPOA is already in the FBI's sights. Besides, how much of a pay reduction could Arnie realistically expect to get? (The union contract numbers in the Orange County Register piece don't make sense. And the URL didn't work for me - try this one.) Posted by: John Smith at January 23, 2004 06:03 PM Thanks for pointing this out, Nathan. And thanks, Nick, for pointing out the historical context for this kind of behavior. Posted by: Meteor Blades at January 23, 2004 07:49 PM It's hard to imagine a job classification that needs union benefits as much as prison guards, given the nature of the work. On the other hand, these guys have an absolutely poisonous effect on the political discourse, especially on issues like introducing sanity into sentencing guidelines and drug laws. Their intimacy with the Gray Davis regime was extremely troubling, and the fact that Arnie might even consider standing up to them struck me as something of a silver lining to the abomination of the recall and its outcome. Silly me to think the Governator couldn't find some way to create a worst-case scenario that ends up screwing the guards, the public and the prisoners, while solidifying the negative political influence of this group. Ick. Thanks for reporting it, Nate. There's nowhere else to read about this stuff. Posted by: Rob Salkowitz at January 25, 2004 02:41 PM The prison guards should definitely be in a union, but not in one that cosies up to the boss to the detriment of other workers, which is what CCPOA does. Their lack of vision not only directly hurts workers in CA -- by fighting for draconian sentencing laws that hurt workers more than the wealthy, by skewing the CA budget towards prisons -- it also gives grandstanding Republicans the opportunity to "stand up to the unions," which hurts everyone who's in a union that has real vision and a commitment to social justice. You know the Yiddish expression "a shanda fur de goyim?" It refers to a fellow Jew who's doing something embarassing or shameful where non-Jews can see it, therefore lowering people's opinion of all Jews. That's what CCPOA is to the labor movement. Posted by: Nick at January 26, 2004 11:09 AM Let us stop the flow of questionable donations to Posted by: thomas at March 21, 2004 05:35 PM The current evil underground government is about to be challeged in a manner that will wake I was recently released after spending 449 days of false inprisonmnet in Sacramento California I was abused by guards several times, given All my false charges were dismissed in the I shall get each government agency that has Those scum soldiers in Irag who beat the Every one of the bastards and whores should Yet this is America and we have laws to deal I will be a lot different than my false America must clean up its own legal system Posted by: James Seidel at July 17, 2004 06:24 PM The current evil underground government is about to be challeged in a manner that will wake I was recently released after spending 449 days of false inprisonmnet in Sacramento California I was abused by guards several times, given All my false charges were dismissed in the I shall get each government agency that has Those scum soldiers in Irag who beat the Every one of the bastards and whores should Yet this is America and we have laws to deal I will be a lot different than my false America must clean up its own legal system Posted by: James Seidel at July 17, 2004 06:24 PM Post a comment
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