Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Check out this site

http://www.caivn.org/issue/public-safet ... son-reform

As you all know I have been making a big push for people to get out and educate themselves and vote this year.

I was made aware of the above site today as far as it now discussing prison issues. I would invite anyone and everyone to go there, check it out and post some comments to tell "our side of the story". As far as I can tell, the site welcomes open dialogue and don't be surprised if you get some conflicting if not flat out hating comments about us. All I ask is that we all remember that both "sides" will be reading and posting on this site and it would be great if we could be the "bigger men/women" if it does get nasty (and yes, I am telling myself this as well).

At any rate, it seems to be a place to get good info and opposing views (which in my eyes only makes our case stronger and you as an individual stronger when you know why your opposition is arguing their point). So I hope to see everyone there and giving insightful, respectful comments.

IP

CCC 3/31/10

Yesterday we sat with the Personal Assignment Lt. Not administration on OP 726. This meeting went as expected. I will be suprised if anything does come out of it. It is almost a repeat from last year when we sat down with the same person. Funny, before that, when we sat down with Lt. Dan, OP 726 was wrapped up in less then a half an hour. Now here we are sitting almost a year and a half without a revised OP726. All the changes that "they" wanted to impliment, we asked why. We explained that it was not broken in the first place, and ofcourse we got the classic, "I don't agree with you". So we will see how this turns out. I know our Warden & CDW wants to move ahead with this, but it is very hard when you have the middle~man attempt to shove these things in front of you, without any regard of the opposite side's opionon. We were not the ones that went out and rewrote OP726 two years ago. The suggestions we inputed last year were not in this latest revised OP726 (not surprised). This seems very one sided if you ask me. I have never seen a simple procedure get dragged through the ringer as this one has. For what? So some can say they got their way at the end? That's not what this is about.

As far as the Medical jobs go , I was told by the LRA that they were told NOT to sit down and talk to CCPOA at the local level. I will be contacting Labor tomorrow and find out what the hell is going on. I heard from all the effected staff yesterday about this. They are sick and tired of the redirection every weekend. Can't blame them. Some staff have even suggested that the Administration is holding out, because it makes our budget look good redirecting everyone and saving a few bucks on paper. This whole Medical Job thing is a freakin joke. Why the hell would they go ahead and rush to get all these positions going, realize they have too many, adjust the medical staff but not the custody staff. And 3 months later, the custody staff PY's are still pending? Can anyone say poor management here? It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that this whole medical receivership thing would turn out to be a mess from the get go. But they went ahead and did it anyways.

I have a copy of the recet memo that came out with no signature on the "inner facility" transfer's ie; bed moves. So with the staffing shortage, job expectations, ect, ect, they now want to put more of a work load on our staff. Maybe they should hire a property officer for every yard so this task is done. Just some thought. We will bring this up to the Warden at our next meeting. Also heard rumour, there may be another memo out there on the Voc inmates and hot tools. If you do see a copy of this, please make me a copy and put it in my box. Thanks.

Stay Safe and Sane
Lori

Monday, March 29, 2010

CCC UPDATE 3/29/10

Just a real quick update on what is going on around our house. Tomorrow we are sitting down with Administration on OP 726. We discussed at the last chapter meeting on what the changes were. We will see how it goes. It is not easy with no contract.

Second. Administration FINALLY had decided that they will sit down with us on the medical jobs. These are the ones that are being redirected every weekend. We have waited over 3 months for this. Now we are waiting for a time and a date from them. We have been pushing them to get this thing going. For some reason, they do not want to move very fast. I know this sucks for the people that have been going through this every weekend.

Stay Safe and Sane
Lori Olah

12 hour shifts

CCPOA NEWS
The following just came in from CCPOA’s Chief of Labor, Steve Weiss, concerning rumors about a 12-hour shift implementation proposal.

12 HOUR SHIFTS
As you may be aware, there has been a great deal of talk and rumors regarding the Department’s consideration of implementing 12 hour shifts.

On March 23rd, CCPOA received a notice of the implementation of 12 hour shifts for Supervisors and Lieutenants at Heman G. Stark (Stark/YTS) and SVSP.

This notice is specific to Stark and SVSP Supervisors and Lieutenants only. It does not include BU6 rank and file......yet.

The notice did not include any plans, policies, or procedures, so at this point, we have no idea how the Department intends to implement or in what time frames.

CCPOA will respond to the notice by first demanding all policies, procedures, and other relevant information, and will begin the process of negotiations under Government Code section 3533 as soon as possible. We will keep you informed.

Steve Weiss
Chief of Labor, CCPOA

Thursday, March 25, 2010

NO ON 12 HOUR SHIFTS!!!!!

I have been contacted by staff at SVSP who are reaching out to all of us, state wide, to help in what they perceive to be an attack on their livelihoods and ours just the same. I could not agree with them more.

It has been told to them that in a matter of weeks their Warden will present them with the plan to implement 12 hour shifts at their institution. The local Chapter President has gone to great lengths to find out information about this issue, yet, the department and her Warden both seem unable to present any real reason or understanding of the burden they are about to place on their own staff and their families alike.

Salinas Valley State Prison is a notorious Level 4 prison. Starting at Calipatria myself, there was one other joint that we heard about on a regular basis being as violent and dangerous for staff as ours, and it was in fact, SVSP. It would seem strange and somewhat irresponsible that anyone would want to start a "pilot" program, that will undoubtedly lead to staff exhaustion and family stress, at a place with such a propensity for absolute violence, but then, anything else would rely on common sense and as we all know such a thing is not a common virtue held by many in our departmental hierarchy.

Think about this my friends and partners. If they are willing to do it there, it will be at a prison near you in a matter of moments. A "pilot program" after a year in the world of Labor becomes policy and it would now seem that the department is attacking our future contract and provisions by enacting policy under a cloak of "cost savings" and "pilot programs".

What will this do to Post and Bid, vacation, holiday time, ITO, swaps, sick leave, overtime and a host of other things that allow us to somewhat control our existence in a job that is full of chaos and violence? Will you burn 8 hours of Sick Leave when you call in, or 12? What will you earn?

Most importantly to us all, at the very fabric of why we choose to walk behind the walls, what about our families? How will you arrange child care, school pick ups, sporting events and how many of you already commute quite a ways to work? What will that do to your time spent at home? We already sacrifice many of life's precious moments that I listed above, think about what you will sacrifice next?

If you fail to see the seriousness of what is about to take place at Salinas Valley then I would assert that you have no pulse. Not only do I feel that we are obligated to defend our Brothers and Sisters at SVSP, I cannot stress enough that this will in fact soon effect you and where you work. This "pilot program" will be set into policy and all of us, state wide, will feel the pain. Do not let this happen to them and at the very least (I would hope that you care more than this) defend them in order to defend yourselves.

The power of this state is in us! Everyone that sets "policy" works for us! The state may seem irreparably damaged but it is only because we have allowed those that think they control it to go to far and unchecked. I see this as a serious threat to our way of life. I also see it as a grand opportunity to step up, step out and make your voice heard through letters, phone calls and your eventual VOTE when by right, we as Californians and more specifically Correctional Peace Officers, DEMAND THE SAME ACCOUNTABILITY AND STANDARD THAT WE ARE HELD TO EACH AND EVERY DAY WORKING THE TOUGHEST BEAT IN THE STATE!!!!

"That's the way it is" is befitting of losers and quitters. I know that is not what we are because in my short career I have worked with some of the bravest and most stubborn individuals I have ever met. It's going to be up to us to change it. The time is now and the direction is clear. DO NOT EXCEPT ANYTHING LESS THAN WHAT YOU PAY FOR AND DESERVE FOR ONE MORE DAY! Let's make this stop and effect positive change today for all of our tomorrows.


The following are the contacts for Salinas Valley's legislative representatives, I plead with each and every one of you to call and write them in the defense of your partners and yourselves. If anyone needs any other help finding the contacts for your own local's, just let me know. Lets see how much noise we can make. Hey, maybe another camping trip is in order.........

Assemblywoman Anna Caballero http://democrats.assembly.ca.gov/members/a28/

Senator Jeff Denham http://cssrc.us/web/12/contact_us.aspx


Ian Pickett
Sgt. KVSP

Wednesday, March 17, 2010

On The Road Again

Hey Lori, as always if you don't find the following appropriate then I will understand if you pull it, it's just for everyone's information.......

A time comes in everyone’s life that you begin to ask yourself what “it” is all about. I know this is a question that has been repeating in my mind for over 2 years now.

The state of the state is dismal. Politics, cliques, cars and scandal seem to be the way of the world and the acceptance from everyone with a defeatist attitude only serves to push all of our underachievement even further foward. “That’s just the way it is” seems to be the surrender that I hear from my partners, my neighbors and my friends across the board.

Myself and Marques Jones refuse to accept “That’s just the way it is” any longer. We refuse to just exist in this world one more day with out trying our best to effect positive change for the future. We refuse to listen or focus for one more minute about what happened yesterday because we will not allow tomorrow to just pass us by while looking back.

It is time for change. This is not a call to change any player but to change the entire game, the weak players will fall by the side. If we continue to allow politics and politicians in this state to continue the way they are, there will be no future for our children or our grandchildren. The “leadership” has not produced and we wont accept it any longer. We plan to hold them accountable. Being a Republican or Democrat in this state is like being a Blood or Crip. Neither represent the freedom of an individuals choice that this country was based on. Neither represent the check and balance that was supposed to rule our government, but both, expect a person to accept the entire party line once declaring your loyalty. It simply does not work. The time has come that a man or woman can be elected into office based on the content of their character and not the content of their campaign account.

With all that said, we may seem like idealists but we are ok with that. Both Marques and I will be hitting the streets once more in an effort to register every single human being we can to vote. We will go prison by prison and anywhere else anyone would like to see us in between. Our hope is that people will register “Decline To State” rather than register with their traditional party line. By registering “Decline To State” you keep the politicians guessing. They can not rely on you for your vote or your money because of party affiliation but instead, they must come earn it. They must approach you with their own ideas because no group has written them a script to gain your acceptance based on your affiliation. You have no affiliation other than whats good for the people. That has been forgotten and we intend to change it or die trying.

We are well aware that the problem seems to large to fix. We are well aware that it will take more than us to fix it, but, we are also well aware that EVERYONE said two guys and some sleeping bags could not get the attention of the state and we didn’t let that stop us either.

I am not here to tell you how to vote or that your party is not one you should support, but, I will ask this one question ” has it worked”?

The time has come to stop focusing on what happened in the past and asking ourselves “what are we going to do NOW, to fix it”.

Ian Pickett
Sgt. KVSP

Monday, March 1, 2010

JUST A QUICK NOTE 3/1/10

Just a quick note to keep everyone up to date locally. I know you guys want more local issues posted and we try. Sometimes though, we fall into a glitch where we can't post due to keeping persons names out of it. Sometimes this can be hard to do. I will try and figure something out.

12~hour shifts have been a hot topic with our local Administration and Sacramento. Both sides think it is coming. CCPOA is asking for memo's for harmed parties if we do go to 12 hour shifts (childcare, ect). This will go towards their fight on it. You can place the memo's in my box and I will fax them to HQ's. I know there are good and bad with this issue. The bad I see is it will lower our staffing levels. At our institution, we are already low, so I don't think that would be a factor. The good, it may cut down on the o.t. holdovers. I do not have a crystal ball to predict if this will work or not. But what I have been hearing through the grapevine, this is looking more like a statewide issue.

We are still collecting Performance Reports that are not written properly. I did get the Suppliments pulled out of our personell files. I think there were 3 or 4 of them placed in our files. I would like to hope that the person involved in this was repremanded for this illegal tactic. But I am not holding my breath on it. Even though this clearly violated our POBAR rights.

We are still collecting LOI's & ECR's that are written. Most that I have ran into have violated CDCr's own policy. The writters are violating their own DOM. It seems staff are being written up for everything! There is no training no more. This does wonders on our moral. There is a place for training and a place for an LOI. Atleast that is suposed to be how it works.

We did receive 8 new cops from transfere's. That is good news. We need everybody we can get.

Medical still has not sat down with us to discuss the new RDO's for the medical positions. We have contacted them several times without a date.

I'm not going to comment on the Operation Disconnect (read other post). But it is being looked at down in HQ's legal.

We are still working agrressivly on the treatment of staff. We still have some supervisors that insist on treating cops like dirt. We need to know about these. Write a memo, call me and we will go from there. These are being compiled in a file for future cases going towards the Attornery General. If you get into a bind, there is a current job steward list in the Watch Office and ERO's office. Call us and ask questions. Or call me, 204-7791. We need to stand up against this behavior. We have had good success on getting these issue handled and dropped when the employee has adverse action thrown at them.

We are all in this together. We need to hear from you when things happen on the yards. If you cannot contact me immediatly, get ahold of Bollie on Lassen 2nd watch, Randy Langslet, 2nd watch Sierra, Kristy lopez, 3 rd watch Sierra, Kenny Estes, 3 rd watch LMT, J. Peralta 3 rd S &E, Kvasnak 1 st watch Sierra, Bias, 1st watch Arnold or Jeniffer Rice. All these peeps are very good at contacting me immediatly. I have been out for several month due to my hand injury, but have been keeping very busy with the union issues. Please dont hesitate to call me. We need your help to help you. Keep us informed.
Believe it or not, we are still doing good as an institution. Talking to other institutions, they are really hammering the staff bad.

Next week is our monthly meeting with the Warden. If there is anything you feel that needs to be brought up, drop me a line so we can put it on the adgenda.

I am compliling a list for job stewards again, contact me if you are interest. Power is knowledge.

As I said, this is just a quick letter to keep you up to date on issues. Stay Safe & Sane.

Lori