Monroe Correctional employees picket for long-awaited raise

Employees from the Monroe Correctional Complex (16700 177th Ave. S.E.) picketed near the prison last week to send a message to lawmakers in Olympia about the importance of funding their contract.

"We're calling on the Legislature to fund the contracts this year,GÇ¥ said Teamsters 117 Spokesperson Dustin Lambro. "We're worried about a potential government shutdown that could see layoffs of 50 percent of our members who work here. What impact would that have on the prisons?GÇ¥

The Monroe Correctional Complex employs approximately 1,200 workers who are responsible for managing more than 2,500 offenders. If the Legislature does not pass a new budget by June 30, Washington state could face a government shutdown. In the case of a shutdown, all correctional employees deemed non-essential could be subject to temporary layoffs, including counselors, custody staff, maintenance staff, cooks and clerical workers. -á

Sgt. Michael Boe has worked at the Monroe Correctional Complex for 15 years. As shift sergeant of the midnight shift, he and eight correctional officers are responsible for the approximately 480 inmates housed in the Minimum Security Unit. Boe is extremely concerned about what a government shutdown would look like within the prison walls.

"The inmates would be on lockdown,GÇ¥ Boe said. "That's just going to create extra tension, extra danger. The potential for staff assaults is going to increase exponentially.GÇ¥ -á

Budget on lockdown

A lockdown situation would mean that inmate movement would be heavily restricted, with access to common areas disallowed. Faith-based and educational programs, including library use, church services and classes would be temporarily suspended. -á

The Monroe Correctional Complex is one of 12 prisons within the Washington state Department of Corrections (DOC) system. DOC employees, including those who work in Monroe, are members of the Teamsters Local 117 Union. Every two years, union workers bargain with the state to negotiate a mutually agreeable contract, which must then be funded by the Legislature.

Last year, when contract negotiations began in preparation for the 2015 legislative session, the workers and the state were unable to come to an agreement. At this point, since state workers do not have the right to strike, they exercised their right to interest arbitration. Contract negotiation via interest arbitration is facilitated through a neutral third party who comes in, listens to both sides and makes a decision on the issues in conflict.

The interest arbitrator assessed a salary survey conducted by the union, which revealed state correctional workers earn 25 to 40 percent less than employees performing the same jobs in county-run facilities. -á -á -á

"The interest arbitrator said a fair and equitable raise for us would be 9.8 percent over a two-year period,GÇ¥ Boe said. "We're not asking for the moon; we're just asking for something that's fair. We haven't had a pay raise in seven years.GÇ¥

Keeping staff-á

It's getting more and more difficult to retain the employees that they have, Boe and Lambro explained, much less recruit new ones.-á

"It's been seven years since any state employee has gotten a raise, and we think it's time. We know there's revenue,GÇ¥ Lambro said. "The state can afford to give a raise to its hard-working employees, particularly those who work here in prisons who face incredible odds, every single day. It was just four and a half years ago that Jayme Biendl was murdered here at this prison.

"The work that these guys do is incredibly dangerous,GÇ¥ he continued. "They face injuries all the time and staff assaults all the time.GÇ¥

Once arbitration was complete and the contract was agreed upon, it was up to the Legislature to approve the funding in the 2015 GÇô 2017 biennium budget. Legislators were not able to come to an agreement on the budget during either the regular session or the first special session. They are currently hashing things out in a second special session, which began on May 29.

The problem, Lambro explained, is with the Senate.

The budget proposal put together by Gov. Jay Inslee provided funding for the contract, as did the House version of the budget. Initially, the Senate version did not provide the funding, and then when the funding was included, it was made contingent on the passage of Senate Bill 6126. The union is opposed to SB 6126 because it feels the bill weakens its collective bargaining rate. -á

To Lambro, the solution is not complicated: Fund the contract so that workers can be fairly compensated for the jobs they do.-á

"We think it's a really simple thing. The governor agreed, the state House agreed, the arbitrator ultimately agreed and said it was fiscally sound,GÇ¥ Lambro said. "It is literally the state Senate that is holding this up.GÇ¥

Union workers recently garnered support from more than 40 small business owners in the Monroe community.-á

"What we know is that if Department of Correction workers get a raise, that adds an additional $527 million dollars into the economy statewide,GÇ¥ Lambro said. "When workers have more money they're going to spend it, and they're going to spend it in local shops.GÇ¥

Lambro and Boe are both hopeful that the contract will be funded without any contingencies before the government is forced into shutdown.-á

"We're not being greedy,GÇ¥ Boe said. "We just think it's time to do the right thing.GÇ¥

For more information about Teamsters Local 117, visit www.teamsters117.org.-á